Captive
by bobcorby
Summary: Iron Man 1 - the trip to Afghanistan. Tony is taken captive, as is Pepper. Will they both make it out alive? Rated M for language, and torture in later chapters. This is my first Iron Man fic so I'd appreciate any comments/reviews!
1. Chapter 1

**CAPTURE – Chapter 1**

The explosion turned the Humvee leading the convey into a dazzling fireball. The impact of it juddered the second vehicle and it skidded to a halt, the vibration sending Tony's scotch slopping over the sides of the glass. Tony held on to the glass tightly. Everything seemed to slow down. In slow motion he watched as the first, then second soldier accompanying him were killed, then everything suddenly sped back into focus as reality washed over him. They were under attack. Jimmy, the remaining soldier, climbed out of the vehicle.

"Wait, wait, give me a gun!"

"Stay in the car!" Jimmy ordered, and then seconds later he was down, blood splatter over the window, and another rocket blast rocked the van. Tony felt a sharp pain dig into his arm and realised that Pepper was clinging to his bicep, her manicured nails digging through the material of his shirt and jacket. He downed the rest of his drink in one go, dropper the glass and tried to put on a reassuring face despite the panic he felt.

_Speak to her, Tony, _he instructed himself_, comfort her, reassure her_.

"Come on," he ordered, it was the best he could do.

Pepper shook her head, but then nodded as she shuffled over the seat, following Tony as he scrambled down from the ride onto the sandy ground. He reached up with both hands, holding Pepper at the waist as he helped her jump down on to the floor. She stumbled a little but he held on until she had regained her footing. He heard her whisper a _shit_ to herself, and guessed she was regretting her choice of footwear. He had mocked her only hours earlier on the jet. "Three inch heels for a trip to war-torn Afghanistan and a weapons demonstration – very appropriate Miss Potts." That moment, only hours ago, suddenly felt like a very old memory.

A shot shattered the door window, glass splayed out and they both shielded their faces. "Crouch down behind the wheel!" Tony ordered, before rushing to grab a gun that had landed just feet away from the vehicle. Was this Jimmy's weapon? Tony pushed the thought from his mind, cocked the gun and fired it into the general direction of the attack. Nothing happened, it was empty.

"Fu*k!" He threw the weapon down and dashed back over to Pepper in a rushed crouch. She was hiding behind the wheel as instructed, hands held over her ears, protecting her head. He grabbed her, she screamed-

"Pepper, it's me," he shouted over the noise of the gunfire. "Come on, we need to move away from here!"

"Where?" Pepper screamed, bewildered.

Tony pointed over to a rock some ten feet away. "There!" He yelled, "We need to get away from the vehicle. We'll take cover there…"

Pepper was gasping for breath, she looked terrified. He placed both of his hands on her upper arms, held her tightly, forcing her to pay attention. "It's going to be okay," he said, staring into her eyes. Pepper gave a short nod.

"On three," he said, and grabbed her hand. "One, two, three-"

They took off in the same crouched run Tony had adopted just minutes before. Gunfire erupted all around them. Tony held onto Peppers hand, pulling her onwards but careful not to move too fast – he knew running would be a struggle in her footwear. They made it to the rock, both slammed behind it, bullets were still flying everywhere, dust and smoke swirled in the air, severely limiting their visibility.

"You okay? You hit?" Tony asked as he pulled his phone from his jacket, began typing into it. Pepper shook her head. "I'm fine, but Tony, we can't stay here."

"Listen, I know, I'm just uploading our position to Jarvis then we'll move. We need to-"

A loud thump sounded to the left of their temporary shelter. They both glanced over, and saw a large "STARK" stencilled rocket embedded nose-first into the ground.

Tony yelled "MOVE!" and grabbed Peppers hand once more. They had moved barely a couple of feet before the rocket let out a high pitched wail. Tony reached out and roughly pushed Pepper ahead of him, and then they were moving faster, suddenly, flying through the air as the impact of the explosion washed over them. Then there was nothing, only blackness.

Tony opened his eyes and blinked against the dust filled air. He moved his head to the side, looking for Pepper. He could see her, just a few feet away, on her knees, crawling over to him. He tried to move and realised it was a bad idea as pain rippled through him, taking his breath away, making him gasp for air in short pants. His vision blacked out again, and when it returned, Pepper was leaning over him, ripping open his shirt and tugging at the chest armour she had pestered him to wear. He was too exhausted to lift his head, so he watched through half closed eyes, only able to see the top of her head as it looked down on him. Her hair was mussed up, he noticed, and for some reason he found this funny, and a small smile ghosted across his face, before it turned back into a grimace as the pain rolled over him again. Pepper was holding onto him, he guessed he had been hit, somewhere, and it hurt, it hurt so, so bad.

He reached out, tried to move his arm, guide it to her, to stop her from touching him, but his arm was too heavy and he could do nothing.

"Pepper," he moaned weakly, "Pepps. Are y'kay?"

Pepper looked up at him, rested her bloodied hand against his cheek softly. "I'm fine." She was scared. Terrified. She was trying to hide it, and she smiled shakily at him as she stroked his cheek, but he could see the fear she was hiding. She was talking to him, he realised, her lips were moving, but he couldn't hear anything. A side effect of the blast.

The pain got stronger, but how was it possible to hurt more? With each shallow breath he took, the stronger the pain became.

"Pepper," he gasped again, "I'm sorry," he paused, groaned, then whispered again, "I'm sorry."

His eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness. Pepper continued to stroke his cheek, her other hand pressed against the hole in his chest as hard as she could. "You don't need to apologise," she said frantically, "it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

A vehicle approached, its tyres kicking up dust as it moved, heading towards them, getting closer. Pepper kept on talking to Tony, stroking his cheek, telling him that everything was fine. Fear rippled through her as the van approached, this wasn't a military van, she knew. Everything was certainly not okay. She looked down at Tony's face, his eyes closed, his chest shuddering as he took in wheezy breaths, was this it, the end for him, and for her. They were going to die, she thought, as tears sprung to her eyes. _This is it._ The vehicle stopped, kicking up more dust, and four men jumped out, shouting and cheering excitedly in a foreign language Pepper did not recognise. Pepper reached over and kissed Tony gently on his clammy forehead, then she closed her eyes, and she waited.

_**Hello! *waves* I'm a big Iron Man fan, and a big fan of fan-fiction, but this is my first Iron Man piece. I hope it is okay, and would appreciate any reviews/comments!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Before he was fully conscious, Tony was already feeling the full agony of the trauma his body had gone through. He was dreaming, he had to be dreaming, because his body was on fire. _He was on fire!_ He had to wake up, needed to wake up. This was a bad dream – wake up – shake it off_, right now!_ He opened his eyes, but then the pain was suddenly worse. Why? Why hadn't the pain of burning flesh stopped with the dream?

He lifted his head slightly, groaned at the pain the movement caused, and saw through blurred vision the hands on him, a lot of hands, holding his body down. Another pair of hands, painted red, were dipping in and out of his chest. What were they doing to him? The pain was sublime. His chest was on fire. Sharp dagger thrusts sliced through his body with each breath. He tried to reach up, swat one of the hands away, but his arms were held down tightly, like the rest of his body, pinned down to some sort of table.

_What are they doing to me? _ He was disorientated and confused, unable to form full thoughts that weren't focused on anything other than the complete and utter _AGONY _that he felt. His blurred vision darkened with black spots as he tried to strain his eyes, to see just exactly _what the hell _they were doing to him. He screamed, tried to fight against the ties and hands that held him to the table. They were too strong. He was too weak. The pain – _MY GOD_ – what were they doing? He screamed and fought and screamed and fought until _finally_ somebody held a cloth against his mouth and nose and he was fading, fading away from this table, this nightmare, this hellish pain that had wrapped itself around his body. Finally, he drifted back into a sweet numbness.

Days passed by in a blur of muggy half formed thoughts. Pain, pain was the first thing his mind was able to grasp each time he regained consciousness: _P-A-I-I-I-I-I-N-N-N_. At times he managed to open his eyes, but before he could process an entire thought he would give in to the trauma he had been through, and pass blissfully away, back into sleep. Just twenty four hours after the surgery, the insurgents took the sedatives away from Yinsen. Each time his patient awoke, for those snapshots of moments, he was in instant agony, almost delirious from the pain. Usually, his waking moments would last a few minutes, often nothing more than a few seconds, before it was too much, and the black numbness would release him. Twice, the patient had panicked, tried to move, tore open his stitches, and Yinsen had struck him, knocking him back out, preventing him from harming himself further. Guilt haunted Yinsen for these acts, striking an injured man, his bruised knuckles a reminder of the brutality he himself had shown. Despite doing it for the man's own good, it still hurt to do so.

Yinsen longed for the pain medication to help his charge, especially when he cried out for Pepper. At first Yinsen thought it was a delusion from the man's fever, a hallucination, a dream. But then Yinsen put two and two together. Pepper had to be the ginger haired lady. He hadn't seen her in days, not since the two hostages had first arrived…

When his patient has first been delivered to him, bloody, on the verge of death, his body torn open by a dangerous and gaping wound, a young woman had also been present, wearing a pretty pink business suit. For some reason, her clothing struck Yinsen. He had tried to keep his presentation as neat as possible since being brought into the caves, and this lady, this hostage – she looked professional – and it was nice. Despite her business attire, she had been hysterical and terrified and had fought against the men dragging Stark's intert form between them – his legs from the knee down dragging over the stone floor, his tailored trousers shredded before they had him on the make shift operating table. The lady had then been dragged out of the room, kicking and screaming and spitting and fighting - Yinsen had not seen her since – it had been three days. He wondered how long her fighting spirit would last in these caves, were she even alive.

Yinsen did not ask the terrorists of this woman 'Peppers' fate. He did not want to know. He realised 'Pepps' – the name often slurred in his patients sudden and short lasting bouts of consciousness, could be this woman. Was she dead? Yinsen shuddered. Given the fate of females in this part of the country, especially white, western women, perhaps she would be better off dead. Perhaps, he thought, looking at his patient, the man the insurgents had insisted must pull through, perhaps he was also better off dying here, on the operating table.

Yinsen had no idea what the Ten Rings would want from these captives – but they were certainly after something. Each day they photographed his patient with the daily newspaper from the closest city, over an hour's journey away – they certainly needed him for something. Usually any captives were kept alive long enough only to be executed on a live internet stream. This was different, they wanted him _alive_ alive – fully functioning. They wanted something, and Yinsen didn't dare think of the lengths they would go to get it.

On the third day, Tony's health began to improve. He woke, was able to open his eyes and consciously look around the room before the pain would creep in and jump out on him. Yinsen would be at his side, talking to him calmly, like a paramedic at the scene of an accident, "My name is Yinsen, I am a doctor, taking care of you. You have been in an accident," he would pause a beat, then add, "I know you are in pain, but you are going to be okay." Twice his patient had drifted back off after this statement, but on the third time, the man lifted his head, looked confusedly around the room and made a dazed request for water. Yinsen quickly gave him a beaker containing room temperature water - cold.

He helped cradle his patients head as he sipped at the water, then coughed, causing more hurt to rattle through him.

"Easy, easy," Yinsen warned as he gently lowered his head back against the table.

"Where am I?"

Yinsen wished he had prepared answers for these potential questions. _"You are in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan." _Yinsen couldn't bring himself to hit the injured man with this statement so soon, so fed him a slightly altered version of the truth: "You were in an accident," he said, "I had to perform surgery on you, but you are going to be okay, for now, although it is going to hurt for a while."

"Yeah," Tony gasped, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt the pain radiate out from his chest. "What kind of accident?" He tried to remember, but all he could think of was the burning sensation that had engulfed him in his dreams. "Was I in a fire?"

"No." Yinsen moved closer so that Tony could see him in the dark room. "A… a car accident."

"Really?"

Yinsen signed, then placed a hand on Tony's arm. "A vehicle you were travelling in was ambushed, and you were injured during the events which happened after that."

Memories suddenly came flooding back. The flight. The demonstration - that had been such a great demo, he'd been practically buzzing in the car ride back to base. Snubbing Rhodey, posing for photos with the soldiers, teasing Pepper as he drank a scotch or two - "Pepper!" He tried to sit up in a hurry, quickly realised this wasn't going to work, his body wasn't going to let him. A muscle in his chest pulled and he rolled onto his side, gasping from pain.

Yinsen gently eased him onto his back, tried to reassure him, but was lost for words – what could he say?

"Where is Pepper," Tony whispered, his voice hoarse. "Pepper was with me when-"

"I am afraid I can tell you nothing for certain. She was here when you were brought in, three days ago. But then she was taken away. I have not seen anything since."

"Who are they? The men who attacked us? Where are we? How long have I been here?" The patient was sweating, his breath coming in fast as his line of questioning became more frantic.

"Please, take another sip of water, try to calm yourself."

Tony did as asked. The process of raising his head, sipping the water, seemed to take so long, and take so much out of him, it only frustrated Tony more. "I just need to know that Pepper is okay."

"As soon as they are back, I will ask."

"Ask who?"

"The men who are holding us here. They are terrorist cell. They call themselves The Ten Rings."

"Are you one of them?" Yinsen shook his head gravely. Tony didn't know why, but he instantly believed the man. "What do they want with me?" It was a stupid question really, they were either after his money, or revenge for the damage his weapons had been doing.

"Who are you?" Yinsen asked.

Tony looked up at him. Swallowed. He suddenly felt very tired. He ached all over. He sighed. "My name is Tony Stark."

"Hmm…" Yinsen was surprised, but didn't let it show. It all made sense now – why they were so desperate to keep him alive earlier – this man was worth billions. Yinsen looked closely, beneath the blood, sweat and grime, if you added a few years, this could be the same man he watched drunkenly lecture all those years ago. "Well, Tony Stark," Yinsen said kindly, seeing the fatigue overtake him, "you need to rest. You are seriously injured."

"I need to see Pepper," Tony interrupted. "I need to know she is okay." He knew he was fading, so stupidly tried to sit up again. He fell back down, swore under his breath.

"Trust me," Yinsen said, feeling sympathy for this man – so desperate to take charge of the situation – so helplessly trapped in his injured body. "You need to rest. I will find out about this Pepper lady, I promise."

"Thank you," Tony muttered as his eyes began to close. He opened them again briefly, looked quizzically at Yinsen, frowning. "Why the hell am I hooked up to an old car batter?"

* * *

**_Hi everyone! Thanks for reading. Thank you to everyone who left a review on the last chapter, hopefully you will do so again! I do have a plan of where I want to take this story, and I can't wait to get there :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Apologies that this is a short update, but it is all I had time for. But this story is starting to head in the direction I wanted to take it, and Pepper will soon be making an appearance! **_

Chapter 3

Later that evening, Tony re-surfaced. He remembered where he was, which was a relief to Yinsen, who had hoped he wouldn't have to keep breaking the news to this man, it had been hard enough the first time. Yinsen explained the need for the car battery, which was attached to his chest, beneath the deep layer of bandages.

Tony looked down, gently pawed the site, deep in thought. "Hmm," he muttered, "crude, but very clever." Yinsen nodded slightly, almost embarrassed by the praise.

"Did you find out about Pepper?"

Yinsen shook his head gravely. "Sorry, I have not been able to."

Tony nodded his head grimly. Partly bracing himself for the pain – if, if, if – she were – what – _dead_? Yes, dead. But he also braced himself for the fury this would release. He could feel the anger, just simmering beneath the surface, held on low heat because of the aches that controlled his body – but the temperature could rise – and would reach boiling point – were Pepper… hurt – missing – _dead_. He tried to banish the thought from his mind, but it was impossible, he could focus on nothing else.

Yinsen tried to distract him. He got Tony to warm up, do some movements, to help ease his body in the transition from comatose to active. They started with breathing exercises, then upgraded to a sitting position. Tony had been impatient at first, but after sitting up, leaning with his legs hanging from the edge of the stained table, he was sweating heavily and feeling overly tired.

"I think that is enough," Yinsen gently warned.

"I need to stand up," Tony pushed, "I can't just sit – or lay here, when Pepper could be hurt, or in danger. I'm going to find her, and then we're getting out of here."

Yinsen smiled slightly. "I used to have that very mind-set," he said, his voice feigning a chirpy tone, "it didn't take long until they knocked the hope out of me."

Tony shot him a frown but continued his efforts to stand, slowly slipping his body down the table edge, one hand gripping the edge tightly, the other braced protectively against his chest. He hit the floor, stood up straight, smiled with triumph, then staggered two steps to the left as the jarring impact made his chest judder with an after-shock of pain.

"Easy, easy," Yinsen murmured as he helped to steady him.

Tony swayed for a moment, then regained his balance and stood alone, shrugging Yinsen's hands from him. "I'm okay," he said, his voice catching.

Yinsen picked up the car battery, following Tony as he took a few shaky steps to the wall, before leaning on it and breathing heavily, hit with a sudden bout of dizziness.

Yinsen smiled, "Very good, I'm impressed. Don't forget this though," he indicated the bulky battery and gently set it on the floor – the leads were long enough that there was still some slack. "Disconnect this and you'll know about it."

Tony nodded his head, still catching his breath. "Thanks," he whispered.

A sudden clang was heard in the background, and Tony watched as Yinsen's calm façade was gone, replaced for a second with panic, before a calm exterior once again took over his face.

"Stand still, put your hands behind your head, and keep your eyes on the ground."

The change in Yinsen scared Tony for a moment. He was still fighting the dizziness his excursion had created, and he didn't quite understand what was happening.

"Why, what's wrong, what's going on?" Tony asked.

"Shh!" Yinsen hushed. "Do as I do. Say nothing. They're coming."

Suddenly, a gang of armed men wearing army fatigues holding weapons – his weapons – he realised angrily, stalked into the room. Yinsen adopted the submissive pose he had mentioned – hands on his head, eyes on the floor. Tony stood as he was, leaning slightly against the wall, but standing a little straighter, hoping to look a little stronger.

"How did they get my weapons?" Tony asked defiantly, watching Yinsen watch the floor.

"Shut up Stark!" he sapped.

For once, Tony did as he was told.

_**Please review! I love reviews and they are really good at motivating me to write!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The men formed a half circle around Tony and Yinsen, trapping them against the wall. One man, Razza, stood forward, clearly the leader. He grinned menacingly at Tony, who stared back at him defiantly.

"Turn around, face the wall!" He ordered. Yinsen complied immediately, and after a second of hesitation, Tony reluctantly followed suit. He still felt dizzy and nauseous from being on his feet, and he wouldn't win here, couldn't, not against half a dozen armed terrorists. _Know when to pick your battles,_ he thought.

"Hands behind your back!"

Again Tony complied, and his hands were quickly tied together tightly with coarse rope that bit into his skin. Next, a heavy sack was placed over his head, it was dark and smelt of damp and Tony tried to breathe through his mouth. He tried not to panic, but the dizziness increased without the use of his hands to help steady himself. The ache in his chest grew stronger, and he realised it was the strain from his arms being pulled back, stretching the chest wound open. Suddenly the men had switched language, and Tony was out of the loop, unable to understand, but he was sure he could hear Yinsen's pleading but muffled tone through the heavy material of the sack.

Yinsen wasn't bound, or blindfolded; instead he was given permission to carry Tony's battery, two paces behind their priority prisoner. Two men grabbed Tony, an arm each, and suddenly they were moving, the patient was checking out of the medical area. Walking at such a pace was hard, Tony realised, as each step he took flared up sharp bites of pain through his chest. The two men held his arms in a bruising grip, and it was all that was keeping Tony upright and moving on his stumbling and unbalanced feet as the two strong hands propelled him forwards. The ground was uneven and Tony tripped once or twice, thankfully his guards made sure he didn't fall.

After a few minutes there was a pause, and Tony sucked in large gulps of air in the stinking sack, grateful for the rest-stop. Exhaustion rippled through him, but he tried his best to stand tall, he would not show defeat before his captors. But he was so tired. His arms hurt and his wrists hurt and his entire mid-section throbbed with pain, pulsing through him. He could taste his fillings and was sure he could feel warm blood creeping its way through the thick layer of bandages covering his chest. Torn stitches, maybe.

The squeal of a rusted bold churning open startled Tony making him jump slightly, and he could hear a snigger from behind. He ignored it, straightened his posture once more, determined to be strong, fearless, and resistant. Then more clanging, and they were moving again. This time, only a few steps were taken before the two guards released their rough grasp of his arms. With his arms still tied behind his back, he stumbled forward, yelping from the vibrations that rocketed through his chest. With no guards holding him up he fell forwards, onto his knees, unable to stop the momentum he carried on and bashed his face against the cold cave floor. Yinsen tried to follow but wasn't quiet quick enough. The wires from the battery snagged against Tony's chest – hard – Tony couldn't help but yelp again, louder this time, then gag as the pain continued to coarse through him. It felt as though his wound had been ripped open and the magnet yanked out. Tony began to panic at the thought of having it put back in again. His breaths came in quick gasps as he tried to stay conscious and not throw up.

Yinsen was quickly at his side, the battery roughly dropped on the floor beside its owner, the leads no longer pulled taught from inside the bloodied bandage that Tony was unable to see. Yinsen dragged the sack free from Tony's head, mussing up his hair in the process, and began working on untying the tight knots that bound his wrists, the skin swollen around the restraints. Tony spat out a mouthful of spit, kept his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he tried to breathe through the pain that was so, so, _so bad_.

He didn't realise the bag had been taken away, freeing his head, until he opened his eyes and blinked away the dark spots that danced around his vision for a moment. He hadn't noticed the guards leave, the heavy re-enforced door clattering shut, the bolts squeaking into place once more, he had been too captivated by the pain. Now his hands were free and he brought them before him, brushed some grit from his face then hugged his arms gently against his chest and his wound. He slowly moved from his knees onto his side, curling his legs into himself slightly as he finally caught his breath and felt the pain begin to ebb. _Thank you,_ he thought, as he began to feel more human. _Thank you_.

"I will need to check your wound," Yinsen said, after watching this display. "It hasn't disconnected, luckily, but there is quite a lot of bleeding."

"Later," Tony whispered, "just leave it for now – please?"

Yinsen wanted to say no. Wanted to haul him up onto the closest cot and inspect the wound immediately, see if any damage had been done to the magnet or the leads, but instead he found himself nodding, unable to disagree with this man. "Later," he agreed, not having the heart to say no.

A shuffling noise was heard from the far corner of the room, causing Yinsen to frown. He glanced down at Tony's form on the floor, he hadn't heard it, he was still caught up in the come down from his recent journey. His body was trembling slightly and guessed it was minor shock – his body was only beginning to heal and wasn't up for this kind of movement if any.

Yinsen took a few steps into the centre of their living area. The cave was narrow but long, and he had arranged a sleeping area in the far end, long ago. He had felt better sleeping as far away from the door as possible – it gave him more time to prepare himself before the terrorists entered at night, as they sometimes did. And the room was darker in the far end of the cell, if slightly colder, and Yinsen had decided it was the best place to rest on a night.

When he had first been brought here, Yinsen had shared this space with four other men. Five small cot beds lined the rocky damp wall at the far edge of the cave. Over time his fellow prisoners had left, one by one, free or dead Yinsen wasn't sure, but he had been alone for so long that he knew something was wrong – they weren't alone now.

He took a few steps further, past the stove, and used the light from the small fire to peer into the darkness, overly cautious. A thought suddenly struck him – why was the stove lit? He made the fire – he lit the stove – only him.

"Hello?" Yinsen called out. This got Tony's attention. He was now sat upright on the floor, arms resting on his knees, head hanging before his chest.

"What?" Tony asked tiredly, thinking Yinsen was talking to him.

"I don't think were alone."

"Great," Tony muttered sarcastically, his head still lowered between his knees, eyes shut.

Yinsen watched as a figure slowly emerged from under a blanket on the cot that sat in the darkest corner of the room. He squinted and saw a figure dressed in pale pink take two steps towards him, clearly nervous and scared. Yinsen felt a smile spread across his face.

"Pepper?" Yinsen called out, knowing this would get Tony's attention.

"Tony?"

Tony slowly scrambled up to his feet as Pepper hurried over, she reached him before he was fully standing, and they simultaneously threw their arms around each other, Tony instinctively holding her close against him, ignoring his wounds, the faintness, the urge to vomit – he held her close as relief spread through his body – _Pepper is here_ . Pepper pulled back suddenly, gasping as she looked down, "your chest, you're bleeding." Tony pulled her back into the hug, whispering a croaked "It's fine," as he cradled her head against his shoulder. "I was so worried about you," he continued, sounding both relieved and exhausted, " I thought, I thought –" He couldn't verbalise the fears he had had over Peppers safety, it was impossible.

"Me too," Pepper interrupted, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke into his shoulder, tears now filling her eyes. "I was so worried you were dead– when they brought us here, you were hurt, the blood, there was so much blood-" she tried to catch her breath, "I honestly thought you were going to- I was so scared – I thought you were -" she hiccupped.

"Me too," Tony said, one hand still holding her to him, the other stroking her hair. "But its okay, we're okay, everything's going to be okay."

"I thought you were dead," Pepper repeated, still struggling from the emotions that were overpowering her – happiness, shock, relief – that Tony was _here_- but the overwhelming feeling of fear was still there too. They were still being held prisoner in some cave in the middle of nowhere. Tony was hurt. She was still terrified for both of their lives.

Tony realised Pepper herself was probably suffering from form of shock, and he could understand why. She had been through everything he had – but at least he had been unconscious for parts, she had been here, alone, waiting, terrified. He pulled back from their embrace slightly, looked at her straight on with a keen focus in his eyes. "I'm here, I'm fine," he said, sounding stronger and more confident than he actually felt. "I'm just so glad you're okay," he added, looking her up and down, "thank God you're alright." He paused, taking in her frown lines, her pale face, the grimy hair and tear streaked face. "Are you okay?" His voice was suddenly sterner, more enquiring, she almost wanted to look away. "Did they hurt you – did they do anything to you-"

Pepper shook her head, crying and smiling at the same time. "I'm fine, honestly. They just put me in here and left me alone. But you –" She shook her head, feeling the worry creeping back in, overtaking the relief as she took in Tony's condition. "You're hurt, you're bleeding, you have – wait, what's that?" she said, startled, suddenly noticing the wires in his chest.

"It's nothing," Tony said, flippantly. "Yinsen did it, it's not a great look, but it's keeping me alive."

"It's keeping you alive?"

Tony shrugged, feeling the adrenalin rush from finding Pepper being to wane. He started to feel tired, suddenly; his legs were heavier, aching slightly from the task of holding him up. His chest still throbbed, each movement – even the task of speaking - sent judders of pain through his wound, although he tried to prevent himself from wincing. _Not in front of Pepper_.

He had to be strong, he had to protect Pepper, make her feel safe, and get her out of here. Get them both out of here. All three of them – Tony was going to escape – be it through buying their freedom or some other means – he was going to get them out of here.

Yinsen chose this moment to interrupt their reunion. "Mr Stark, I think now is a good time to take a break and let me look at that wound."

"Its fine," Tony said, eyes not meeting Yinsen, instead his vision stayed locked on Pepper.

"Tony please," Pepper said, understanding at once what was going on. "Let this man-"

"His name is Yinsen."

"Okay, let Yinsen take a look at you. Your chest is bleeding, and you look-" Pepper tried to find a nicer way of phrasing it than _like death_ _warmed over_. "-ill," she finished, not sure if that was a better way of putting it.

Tony finally nodded his head, deflated, and leaned heavily on Yinsen as they slowly made their way to the sleeping area, Pepper carrying the car battery, trying not to get upset at the fact that this old box of rusted metal was all that was keeping Tony alive.

Yinsen helped Tony ease his way onto the closest cot. It was thin and damp and like the sack, it smelt of must. "Perfect," Tony muttered as he closed his eyes for a second.

"I am going to remove the bandages, check the connection and clean the wound."

Tony just nodded his head, knowing it was going to hurt, now too tired to speak.

Yinsen moved to get the medical bag Razza had provided him with, to make sure Tony stayed alive. It contained only basic first aid supplies but it was better than nothing. Pepper crouched down at the side of the cot and picked Tony's hand up and held it gently. Tony's eyes flickered open then closed as he tried to fight the crippling exhaustion that was overpowering him.

"It's not exactly five star accommodation - I think the brochure was misleading. And the entertainment-"

"Tony," Pepper smiled, "Don't do this. I don't need you to do this. I'm okay."

Tony sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

His voice was soft, quiet, like a child confessing to a crime. "I'm sorry I made you come out here, this is all my fault."

"You didn't make me do anything. I wanted to come."

Tony forced his eyes open, looked up at Pepper, saw the serious expression on her face and signed again with guilt. "No you didn't."

"Yes, I did." Pepper smiled again, trying to reassure him. "I just didn't want you to know that I actually wanted to come."

"Oh."

Pepper smiled down at him. "See, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"We were still targeted because of me, who I am."

"That doesn't make this your fault."

Before he could respond Pepper gently held a finger against his lips to shush him, and then Yinsen was back, bag in tow, and Pepper moved out of the way. Tony held on to her hand a second longer than necessary before releasing it. He felt his eyes close again, tried to fight it.

"It's okay Tony," Pepper said, now at Yinsen's side, ready to help if needed.

"Sleep, Mr Stark," Yinsen instructed, sensing that Tony was still fighting it, "let your body rest."

Tony complied, felt himself slowly drift away, away from the pain, the cold, the whole terrifying situation… he wanted to slip away from it all. Within minutes he was sleeping soundly. They waited a moment, and then Yinsen gently slapped Tony's stubbled cheek to make sure he was fully out. He signed, turned to face Pepper.

"You may want to wait over by the fire, this may be unpleasant."

Pepper shook her head, gritted her teeth. "That's okay. I want to help, if I can."

"Very well then," Yinsen said, approving of Peppers response "Let's take a look."

_**I hope that people are still reading this! The last chapter was a little short but hopefully this will make up for it! Please let me know your thoughts, both good and bad, I love reviews! x**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks to everybody who has reviewed, followed/favourite this so far! I really love getting reviews, it makes my day, so thanks! :) **_

**Chapter 5**

Yinsen was pleased with Peppers attitude. She helped him as he cut away the bloodied bandages from Tony's chest, only grimacing at the sight of the wound – the blistered and grazed skin, the magnet, connector and leads, torn stiches and puss – his chest was a mess. Even Yinsen had to take a long breath as he mentally catalogued and prioritised the work that needed to be done.

After taking a long hard look at the wound he turned to Pepper. "Are you okay?"

Pepper nodded, she looked pale, but was determined to help. She passed Yinsen the tools when he asked, and left to bring bowls of clean water when instructed. When Tony jerked or flinched in his sleep, unable to escape from the confines of the pain even unconscious, she held him down to the mouldy mattress gently by the shoulders, shushing him. When Yinsen didn't need her, she gently stroked the bare skin on his forearm, seemingly unaware of what she was doing.

These two were a strange pair. A couple? Yinsen didn't think so. But there was clearly more between them than just a working relationship. He ignored his curiosity, focusing in the task at hand, and after just over an hour he was finished. Pepper helped once more, holding Tony in a sitting position, his head lolling against her shoulder, as Yinsen tightly wrapped fresh bandages around his body, covering his wound entirely, leaving Tony's mid-section akin to that of a mummy.

When finished they gently eased him back down, then Yinsen left to fetch extra blankets to place over him. "We need to watch him carefully," Yinsen explained, "he will be in a lot of pain for a while. He is going to be susceptible to infection, such a large wound, and our poor conditions… We need to make sure he doesn't move anymore than necessary, he needs to take it easy, and we must keep the wound clean. His recovery will not be easy."

Pepper nodded, now sat on the cot on the other side from Tony's bed. This one lay against the back wall of the cave, her and Tony's beds making a L shape, with a half a foot gap between where their heads would lay. She was tired, so tired, but feared going to sleep. She watched him as Yinsen left to clean his equipment at a washing area in another part of the cave. He returned, forty minutes later, handed Pepper a hard roll of bread.

"Eat this," he instructed kindly. "Tony will need your support, we can't afford for you to get ill too."

Pepper shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"Eat it," Yinsen said, a little sterner, but a hint of a smile at his lips.

"I don't do carbs," she responded, smiling, then gave in and took a small bite from the old bread. She tried not to show her displeasure, but Yinsen, missing nothing, just shrugged.

After finishing her first bite, Pepper looked over at Yinsen. His age was hard to determine – fifty? He looked neat, dressed in business attire like herself. But his clothes were worn. She noticed the way he pottered around this large space, he seemed almost at home here, in this large prison cave.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

Yinsen shrugged, a frown on his face. "I don't know exactly…" he sighed, held his hands out, "too long, for certain."

Pepper nodded, looked down at her food. "Thank you, for saving his life."

Yinsen shrugged again, clearly this was his preferred response to topics that made him unconformable.

"You should try get to sleep," Yinsen said, changing the subject. "After you finish the bread."

"I know…" She looked over at Tony, only his face visible from beneath the torn and ratty blankets he was covered with. He lay on his back, head turned to the side, small scratches still visible on his face from the blast, his hair mussed up, forehead covered in a light sheen of sweat. "I've never seen him so…. still." She felt her eyes well up, silently told herself off – she would not cry.

"His body is still in shock," Yinsen explained, "it's weak, it's been through a lot. Still, it's good. It means he is resting. It means his wounds have a chance to heal."

Pepper tried to ignore the two silver cables that ran from under the blanket, over the cot edge, connected to that battery that sat on the floor next to his bed. "What about t-t-that thing," Pepper said, trying not to shudder.

Another shrug. This habit of Yinsen's was beginning to annoy Pepper. "It was all I had to work with."

"I'm not blaming you," Pepper said, suddenly feeling bad, "I just – it scares me. What if it breaks? How long will it keep him alive for?"

Yinsen shook his head, took his glasses off and wiped them against his suit jacket. He put them back on, thought hard before answering. "It could break or pack in, I won't lie, although I'm sure they have more, and they want to keep him alive." _For now_, Yinsen added, silently. "How long will it keep him alive for? Honestly, I don't know, a few weeks, maybe a month. I just don't know. Long enough, I hope."

"For what?"

Yinsen sighed. "I don't know. Until his company pays a ransom – I assume that's what they want."

Pepper nodded. "Hopefully. Tony is rich, whatever they want, whatever price they put on his head, he can afford it."

Yinsen smiled again. "On that slightly more positive note," he said, "I must insist you go to sleep." He handed her a blanket and Pepper took it, laid down, her head only a foot away from Tony's, she felt better being so close to him.

"I will take the cot over here, to give you some privacy," Yinsen, said, indicating to the cot in the adjourning corner, opposite Tony's, some ten feet away.

Pepper was touched by his thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Yinsen." She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the positive thought – Tony could pay the ransom, _he will pay the ransom, we're going to be okay, we are…_

Yinsen got settled, laid on his side, facing the wall, his back to Pepper and Tony. He was asleep within minutes – performing major surgery in a cave with no medical equipment always tired him out. His last thoughts as he drifted to sleep were of his female companion, Pepper. She had showed courage and a strong spirit, he was impressed. He just hoped it didn't get broken, crushed and destroyed, like so many before her in this place.

The next day, Tony woke slowly. He blinked his eyes, once, twice and then a third time as he tried to remember why his head felt so fuzzy. He was cold and his head hurt, it felt a little like the start of a migraine - was he hung over? He shifted slightly and felt a judder of pain ripple through him, he couldn't prevent a hiss escaping from his lips. Did he get into a fight last night? He closed his eyes again as a feeling of nausea suddenly emerged - definitely hung over.

"Tony?"

Pepper, was that Pepper? For a minute fear flooded through him - he and Pepper - they hadn't... _had they?_ He turned his head, opened one eye, saw her sat on the grubby cot bed, a blanket wrapped around her midsection, her pink business suit creased and torn and dirty. Then it all came back, flashes of memories from the nightmare their lives had become. He sighed again, then gently ran a hand through his hair, noticing how even the task of raising his arm caused pain in his chest. Damn, this wasn't good.

"Morning," he uttered, remembering that Pepper was waiting for some kind of response. "Did you sleep well?"

Pepper shook her head, "didn't sleep a wink," she said as she got out of bed. Tony watched her as she began to sort the "bed" she had slept in - folding blankets and flipping the threadbare mattress. Tony couldn't help but smile at the image of her making her bed – efficient even here.

"Where's Yinsen," he asked suddenly, noticing the absence of the elder man's presence.

"He went to wash up – over there," she indicated a dark area near the entrance/exit of their cage. A shaggy towel hung down, separating the area from this space. "Behind the towel there's a tap with water, he set it up as a shower room and lavatory."

"Right, of course he did," Tony said, not commenting on their living area, instead gritting his teeth, he looked deep in thought, Pepper decided to wait him out. After six minutes of silence Yinsen emerged from behind the towel, whistling cheerily. "Ah," he greeted them, "you are awake."

"Yes, we are," Pepper said, trying to match his mood. Tony ignored him, decided it was time to get up, swung his legs over the edge of the cot, doubled over onto his side, clutching at his chest, gasping for breath as the pain hit him.

"Tony!" Pepper screeched and ran to his aid, Yinsen got their first.

"You need to slow down, Mr Stark," he admonished, before helping Tony complete his action, and sit up gingerly, one hand still clutched across his stomach, the other gripping the edge of the bed, knuckles turning white from the pressure.

Tony waited another minute to catch his breath as the pain subsided, turning from a raging slicing motion cutting through his chest, to a deep throb. He could live with the throb. He looked up, saw Yinsen, looking amused but concerned, saw Pepper looking worried, and it irritated him, it really did. He had got her into this mess, he was going to get her out of it. She was not going to pity him, she was not going to worry about him, and she certainly wasn't going to look after him. _Not in here._ Outside, sure, it was her job. In here – no way, he was the alpha male, and he was going to fix this.

He reached an arm out and Yinsen helped steady him as he rose to his feet. Tony looked down at the car battery, a look of determination on his face, he stated to reach down but Yinsen quickly interceded.

"It is important that you don't forget this – you go too far, pull the end out – it's going to hurt. But let me get it, for now, while you catch your breath back."

Tony nodded, not happy, but also able to admit to himself that it would be a struggle to carry it – just standing was exhausting. Slowly they made their way across the cave, Tony taking small, unbalanced baby steps to the central area of the cave – there was a bench and a chair and Tony noticed what looked like a cooking area over a small lit stove. Yinsen directed Tony into the chair, Tony was grateful for the rest, tired already from the short journey from one end of their prison to the other.

"How do you feel?"

Tony grinned at him, "really?" he asked, his words oozing with sarcasm.

"It will help me assess how well your wound is heeling, if you tell me exactly what you are feeling."

Tony glanced over to Pepper, saw she had not followed them, and was instead now folding the sheets on his bed. He smiled slightly again, before sitting forwards, one arm again held gently but protectively against his chest.

"It hurts. Hurt worse, when I tried to get up, seems to have toned down and straightened out a little now. Kind of," he tried to find the right word, "hurts in time with my pulse, if you get me? It," he lowered his voice even further, "hurts a lot more, when walking, jolts with each step, but I guess that's normal huh."

Yinsen nodded, pleased. "Yes, that is normal. The pain isn't going away for a while, I'm afraid. But it will level out, and slowly get lighter, until your wound heals. The more you move around, gently, slowly, carefully I might add – the better this is. Keeping your body fit, but it will also help you acclimatise quicker, to better handle it. But at the same time, it is a fine balance, you can't do too much or you will aggravate the wounds." He continued, "It's quite a balancing act, but we will do our best."

Tony nodded, now glancing over to Pepper, who was heading their way. Yinsen watched as Tony frowned, than sat up higher in the chair, anger flickering over his face.

"What's wrong?" Yinsen asked, "I know it's frustrating, but you really do need to proceed slowly, with caution, if you want to sur-"

Pepper was now only a foot away, she stopped suddenly as she noticed the look on Tony's face, and the confusion on Yinsen's.

"You're limping. You are limping. Left leg. What's wrong.? He stood up now, making a point of lifting the battery as he did, holding it in the crook of his arm, just to prove a point to Yinsen, all the while ranting at Pepper. "How did you hurt your leg? Did they do this do you?" He was worked up now, pointing at her as he spoke, his words spewing out frantically, and he was sweating more, unable to calm himself. "What did they do? Who was it – was it that fat guy with the beard? I'll kill him first, I'll - Why did you lie to me, why didn't you tell-"

"Tony for God's sake, calm down. I'm fine. I twisted my ankle… it was when – after you were hit by the- Nobody did this to me, my heel got caught in the – why would I lie to you? I'm fine. If I wasn't fine I would have told you, but I am so can you please just-" Pepper was now as flustered as he was.

"Okay, okay," Tony said, sitting back down, resting the battery on his knees. "I just thought-" he let out a long breath, shaking his head. "I'm sorry okay?"

Pepper nodded. "It's okay, but please Tony, you need to stay calm, and stop worrying about me. I'm fine, and if I wasn't, I'd tell you." She took a seat next to Yinsen on the thin splintered bench.

"Getting worked up like that, is not healthy for you," Yinsen said lightly.

Tony closed his eyes for a moment, calming down, but he nodded his head, letting them know he had been listening. He opened them back up, ran a hand over his sweaty face. "You need some new shoes," Tony said, and before Pepper or Yinsen could interrupt he continued, "we need some shoes for Pepper," this time speaking at Yinsen, "look at her, twisted ankle or whatever – and she's still wearing her five inch heels."

"It's fine Tony, I can walk in these just fine."

Tony sat up again. "No it's not. We need to get you some shoes. What if we need to make a move out of here fast – are you telling me you can run on this ground with those things on your feet? And you need some other clothes." Pepper signed, seeing that he was getting worked up again, "you must be freezing in that skirt."

"Actually, I am fine," Pepper said, folding her arms across her chest. "But if it makes you feel better, whatever. Though I'm not sure where you're going to find something here, I didn't notice any shoe shops on the way in. And why do you think I might need to run? Surely they are going to demand money, the company will pay it, and we will get out of here?"

Tony shook his head, looked suddenly wary, he wanted to tell her his fears, but he didn't want to worry her at the same time. Pepper knew immediately that he was hiding something from her.

"What?"

Tony shrugged. It really irritated Pepper – what was with all of the shrugging? "What? What are you not telling me?"

She glanced at Yinsen, he looked confused – whatever it was, Tony hadn't shared it with either of them yet. "Tony? Please don't hide anything from me – not here, we need to be honest with each other now more than ever."

Tony looked up at her, she could see how worn out he looked. His usually neatly trimmed facial hair had overgrown with a few days' worth of stubble, his eyes looked tired, flickering with pain that he tried to hide, and his face still had some blood smeared near his ear – when they finished this conversation she was going to order him into the wash space and make him clean up a little. Though, she thought suddenly_, I suppose I don't much look better_.

"I'm not hiding anything from you, I'm just worried, it might not be that simple, and I think we need to be prepared."

"For what?"

She was so naive, Tony thought, and though it was something he usually liked about her, right this instant he found the trait annoying.

"For getting out of here. What if they don't demand money? And even if they do, I'm not just going to sit here waiting either way, like some prisoner, I'm going to find a way out."

Pepper could sense his agitation. She moved over to him, crouched on the floor by his side, gently rested a hand on his knee next to the car battery. "Tony, they are going to demand some money, they know who you are, what you are worth. We will be hone soon, I'm sure of it."

"Sure about that are you?" He snapped, his tone suddenly angry, almost nasty. "I don't think it's going to be that simple. Yinsen – how long have we been here?"

"Five days."

"In five days nobody has spoken to me or you – they haven't asked about the money, they haven't asked me for a contact – they haven't done anything."

"But they will!"

"No. No. I… I'm sorry Pepper, but I don't think so. I mean – if they want a ransom, why are you here? Why didn't they kill you like the soldiers and Rh- Rhodey… They don't know about our working relationship, at the most they think you are a bog-standard PA, from that title there is no way they could know how much myself and the company value you. So through my line of thinking, you should be dead – not here, with me. If they want my insurance to pay out, you'd be dead. The fact that you're here," he looked at her, guilt flooding his eyes again, "I'm sorry Pepper, but the fact that you're here, combined with the fact that they kept me alive with this," he hit the battery in anger, "I think something else is going on."

Pepper swallowed, moved back to the bench, taking it all in. Finally she tried to reason with him. "I guess there is a chance you could be right."

Tony nodded, struggled up out of the chair, unsteadily holding the box against his side, he started to pace in a small circle. "I'm just planning for the worst case scenario – and I'm going to find a way to get us out of here."

Pepper nodded, lost for words. Was Tony delusional, or was he being pragmatic? Yinsen got up, placed a hand on Tony's arm, "I will help you, Tony, but for now, you really do need to rest, you are in no shape to-"

"I'm fine!" Tony replied, angrily shoving Yinsen's arm away.

"Tony, please listen to him, he saved your-"

"I don't need to listen, I need to think!"

A sudden clank, then a great screeching sound as the bolt on the door was pulled back. The three captives all went suddenly silent, Pepper and Tony glanced at each other. Pepper was scared, Tony could see, and he vowed once more to hide his own fears from her.

"Put your hands on your head, don't make eye contact," Yinsen whispered quickly as the second bolt screeched. "Pepper, keep your head down, try not to be noticed."

Pepper stared at Tony, even more scared now, but moved to put her hands on her head. As the door was opened and men began to pour into the room, Tony put one hand on his head, the other still holding the battery, as he took two steps backwards, positioning himself in front of Pepper, trying to shield her.

The fat man with the beard came in first, stopping to stand a foot away from them. Razza followed, a smug smirk on his face as he stared at Tony. Four men followed, each holding guns – STARK weapons, again, Tony noticed, feeling his face turn red from his anger.

Razza stretched his arms out wide, palms facing up, an open, friendly gesture. "Welcome, Mr Stark, I hope you are enjoying your stay."

Tony grunted, glared at him, said nothing, not trusting himself to not be a smart arse and get himself into more trouble.

"Now the time comes, for you to pay for the facilities you have been enjoying." Razza nodded to one of the gunmen who stalked forwards, thrusting a photo at Tony. Tony lowered his arm and took it. Lowering his arm felt nice, he felt the pressure in his chest ease slightly. He looked down at the paper, it was a picture of his weapon, the Jericho he had demonstrated just days ago. He stared at it for a moment or two, then smiled up at Razza. He dropped the photo on top of his battery, made a show of patting both of his trouser pockets with his free hand. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to have any on me."

Razza smiled, not rising to the bait. "That is okay, Mr Stark, we have the materials here, so you can build us a new one."

Tony picked the photo back up, screwed it up in his fist, threw it at the fat bearded man. It bounced off his cheek, fell to the floor, rolled under the bench. The fat man glowered. Tony stared hard at Razza.

"I refuse."

**_I'm going on holiday tonight so there will be no update for at least a week – I will try to write more as soon as I get back though – and reviews are really good at motivating me! So please, please review! I know exactly where I want to take this, and can't wait to write the next part, although Tony and Pepper may not appreciate it…! _**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

Razza gave Tony a final chance to change his mind. "Excuse me?" he asked, hand touching his ear as though he hadn't heard the response. Tony smiled, took a step forwards, staring at the man. He squared his shoulders, a sign of courage, strength and defiance, he hoped, wanting to hide the fear he was really feeling. He had been right earlier, he thought to himself, they didn't want money_ – of course he was right_.

"I said – no."

Razza smiled too, showing his brown and crooked teeth. Yinsen continued to look down at the floor, and Pepper watched, her eyes flickering from Razza to Tony, terrified. They didn't want his money. They wanted him to build a weapon. She realised that Tony had been right_, typical_. This was not good – this was, well _BAD_. She watched anxiously as Tony stood his ground, repeating his refusal to cooperate.

"I think I will be able to persuade you."

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "I'm quite a stubborn guy, actually. I've found that when people try to make me do something, I tend to do the opposite."

"We will see Mr Stark. But please remember – I did give you the chance to do this the easy way."

Razza nodded to his left, and a young lean man stalked over immediately, kicking his foot into the back of Tony's leg, making him drop to his knees. Tony tried to keep hold of the battery as he fell, it landed on the floor before him, but there was plenty of slack in the leads_. Phew_. Seconds later the young terrorist grabbed a handful of Tony's hair roughly, and slammed him face first into the battery. His nose bust from the impact, spraying blood everywhere. Pepper screamed. The man then used his rifle, holding it against the back of Tony's neck, forcing his face down against the battery.

Tony tried to raise his head, using his arms as leverage to push up against the box, but the guy holding the rifle against his neck was too strong. He quickly gave up, deciding to save his energy, he was achieving nothing. He could feel the blood clotting his nose and had to breathe through his mouth. The wound was only minor, the blood making it look worse than it was. His chest hurt more from the impact of dropping to his knees than anything else, but he was breathing through the pain, trying to order his thoughts before things got any worse.

Razza was stood before him now, speaking in a different language. Tony tried to tune it out - he had more important things to think about.

_Pepper._

Tony twisted his face, could see her crying, being held back by the fat guard Tony hated so much. Shit. No. They were going to use her. He could not let them use her. Thoughts and ideas and plans scrambled through his brain at lightening speed, he tried to filter through them for something useful.

"Pepper!" He called out, his voice sounding stuffy from his blocked nose. "I'm okay Pepper, calm down. Remember what I told you earlier," he said, trying to look up to see her face – she was stood further away now, from his position on the ground, he couldn't see her. He had to make sure she understood, she had to prepare herself for what was going to happen. "Remember what I said, about …." He broke off as the young guard slapped him around the back of the head, ordering him to shut up.

He looked up again, and she came into view, the fat man holding her from behind, his filthy hands digging into the sleeves of her suit. Tony looked up at her, trying to make her understand. Pepper was crying and snivelling but she nodded her head, and Tony hoped she realised that she was to be the bait; they were going to use her to break him.

His hands were pulled behind his back, tied tightly with the same coarse rope as before, it bit into his skin, grating over the grazes that already marked his skin. He couldn't help but hiss as he was dragged to his feet, the young guard holding him upright by his left arm as Tony stumbled, sending more judders of pain though his chest. A third man, also young, blank faced as though he was in a trance or sleepwalking reached over and picked up the battery, standing close by so it didn't disconnect. Tony was grateful for that small mercy.

The men had switched to English again, Tony realised, as he heard Razza instruct the guards to move him. As he was dragged towards the door Tony twisted enough to see Pepper also being propelled forwards by the fat man. He had hoped they would leave her, that he was being paranoid, but he wasn't. She was a great advantage to them – there was no reason why they shouldn't use her. Tony was blindfolded from behind – some kind of rag rather than the disgusting bag they had used last time, and then the rusted bolts were released and he was pushed onwards.

He could hear the faint scattered click of Peppers heels on the floor behind him. Before they moved too far Tony realised he could head Yinsen's voice from their cell, pleading, shouting, warning. Certain phrases filtered through – "No!" and "Don't do this." The last thing he heard was "His body isn't strong enough yet," and Tony tried not to shudder as he thought about what they were going to do to him – what wasn't his body strong enough to take? Yinsen sounded frantic and Pepper was still sobbing behind him – Tony knew he had to stay in charge of his emotions; he had to be strong and clear headed.

As he was pushed and shoved and pulled and dragged Tony listened out for Pepper, she was no longer crying, but he could hear her sniffing a few times, and her shoes continued to tap against the cave floor, the sound echoing. It was strangely comforting. Tony tried to focus on that and not the shockwaves of pain that were jumping up and down his chest with each step he took.

After a while Pepper called out for him, but Tony didn't reply. He was formulating a plan. They were going to use her to make him build the bomb. He couldn't let them hurt her, but he couldn't build the bomb either.

Only one possible solution came to mind as his journey ended and he was pushed into a metal chair, his hands suddenly released, then quickly retied to the arms of the chair, more rope, tied tightly against his wrists, effectively restraining him. The blindfold stayed on for now.

This is it, Tony realised, knowing he had to do something. There was only one thing he could think of and although it made his stomach churn, it was the best option he could come up with. The only way to stop them from using Pepper against him, was to make them think that he didn't care about her. They would hurt her, to make him work. But if he didn't care, didn't respond to what they did to her, then they would stop. Quickly, Tony hoped, they would realise this wasn't going to work, and then they could hurt or torture or just kill him instead.

He had to spur this along, make them think he didn't care about her. Make them think he was the selfish pr!ck the media portrayed him as. He just hoped it worked, and he hoped Pepper would understand. I'm sorry Pepper, he thought desperately, I'm trying to think of something to save you, but whichever way I look at it you're going to get hurt – this way, I can limit that, and that's the only way out I can see._ Please don't hate me for this, _he added silently_._

His blindfold was suddenly ripped off. Tony looked around the room, blinking as his sight adjusted. The room was lit by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and appeared empty, other than Razza, the fat man and the two young guards who stood by the door, weapons ready - _my God damn weapons_ – should he make an attempt to escape.

He was tied to a metal chair, and opposite him, five feet away, Pepper was restrained the same way as him, at the wrists, in an identical chair. The only difference was she had been gagged. She stared at him through terrified eyes. Tony wanted to comfort her, to give her some assurance, but instead he looked away, down at his feet, resolving to go ahead with his plan.

Razza stalked over and patted Tony on the arm in a friendly gesture, the act making Tony angry but also feel even more helpless.

"Well?" Razza asked. "I give you one more chance?"

Tony looked at Pepper. She was shaking her head, left to right – _NO._ Tony took comfort from that. She didn't want him to build the bomb either. He just hoped she didn't hate him for what he was about to do.

"Well, what do you have to say?" The arm-pat again, harder this time, a thinly veiled threat.

Tony lipped his lips, sat up as straight as he could in the chair. He had to be strong. If he started down this path, he had to follow it through, no matter what, or Pepper's suffering would be for nothing, and they would hurt her even more, and get the bomb. He had to be strong.

He looked over at Pepper, smiled softly. "I'm sorry Pepper," he said, then strained his head to look over at Razza. "My answer remains the same."

Razza looked almost pleased by this. "Very well," he said, before nodding over at the fat man. "Begin."

_**Thanks for reading people! **_

_**I've had quite a few new people follow and favourite this story - thank you so much!**_

_**Also thanks for the reviews – and please, keep reviewing! (Cheeky I know but reviews really motivate me, and it's nice to know people are still reading/enjoying. So please let me know what you think – good and bad!) Thank you xx**_

_**I have most of the next chapter written, and things are about to get… messy! I will try to update soon. **_

_**Also, I have a little request of my own. I've recently gotten into reading other pieces of fan fiction, but there is a lot to trawl through on here, and I'm not sure I'm hitting the right search categories. Can anybody recommend any good Tony whump / in peril fics?! For some reason I like to see our hero in dangerous and vulnerable situations – so if you can recommend any, please let me know!**_

_**Also, are there any good fan fic forums or fan forums anybody can direct me to? I've had a look but can only seem to find ones that are out of date. I'm an Iron Man addict! ;)**_

_**Thanks again, and watch this space for the next update :D**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Tony watched and gritted his teeth as the fat man moved in front of Pepper, knelt down and gently ran a finger through her hair, twisting it round his fingers, making the lock curl. Tony made his face remain blank. Pepper closed her eyes as his hand moved to her face and he pawed her cheek, again gently, before pulling the gag away from her mouth. He stood back up, stepped away, and Razza moved in to stand behind her, the threat clear. Razza did as the fat man had, and stroked Pepper's hair from behind, the act making Pepper's eyes leak with tears again, despite how hard she tried to keep them in, to be strong, it was impossible – she was terrified, and this act of gentleness only increased her terror.

Razza remained where he was as he spoke to Tony, twirling pieces of hair now between both of his hands as he spoke.

"Mr Stark…" he said in a patronising manner. "Would you believe that I was commissioned to assassinate you?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at this. He was surprised. He had to respond – he had to try and keep the attention on himself. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but by making Yinsen keep me alive, you kinda did the opposite."

Razza nodded. "Yes, I did." He continued to play with Peppers hair as the tension became almost unbearable for the two captives; Razza was clearly enjoying his position of power. "When we found you in the desert after the attack, the plan was to finish you off, collect my payment. But I recognised you instantly. I realised just how valuable you were, and could be to me, alive."

He signed dramatically before continuing. "My men wanted to kill the woman, but I could see a use in her. She fought us, she was trying to help you, trying to save you – I could see instantly what she would do to protect you, and I can only assume you would do the same for her."

Pepper looked down at the floor, almost embarrassed by Razza's story, and her actions from when the men had taken them. Tony swallowed hard, and then looked up at Razza. He tried to feign indifference.

"That's good to know. When we get back, I'll give her a pay rise. Her duties are usually to pick up my dry cleaning and make sure my coffee arrives at the right temperature, but it's good to see that my staff can show initiative."

Pepper looked up at him, and she looked – hurt. She stared at him silently. Although her face didn't change, and she was still trembling with fear, Tony could feel the hurt his words caused, he felt like her eyes were burning holes into him. He kept his focus on Razza, trying to block Pepper out, while willing her to understand what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He was trying to protect her, he didn't want to hurt her.

"Is that so?" Razza looked intrigued.

"I'm afraid so." Tony cocked his head up to the ceiling, looking as though he was thinking hard. "Oh, I forgot, she also takes the trash out for me on a Tuesday morning." He looked over at Pepper, she was still staring at him blankly. "Don't you? Or was it the last one who did that for me, I can never keep up."

Razza laughed, then moved to rest both hands on Peppers shoulders as though all three of them were in on the joke. "You are a funny man, Mr Stark. But we shall waste no more time. I will make it simple for you. I want you to build the bomb. I will hurt your girlfriend, until you build the bomb. Do you understand?"

Again Tony fought to keep the fear and guilt and panic and anger from his face. He brought the mask of indifference back. "Firstly," he said, cocky again, "she isn't my girlfriend. If you know anything about me, you know I go for blond bimbos only. Certainly not red heads."

Tony felt he could actually feel the sting of his words as they hit Pepper, but he continued to hope she understood what he was trying to do. Razza motioned to the fat man who looked impatient. Seeing the nod he licked his lips and moved over to Pepper. Razza smirked at Tony, ready to call his bluff as the fat man pulled his arm back and slapped Pepper across the face, hard. Her head whipped to the side from the force and she cried out in pain. Tony sat up in the chair, pulling his arms against the rope, making it cut deeper into his skin.

"Hey," Tony said, anger coursing through him, before he remembered what he had to do. He tried to cool himself down. Forced himself to look at Razza and only Razza: _ignore Pepper, ignore the fat man, he's just the lackey. _It was hard, he was furious. _Block it out_. "Come on man, I don't want to sleep with her, doesn't mean I like to see a man hit a woman."

Razza nodded before the fat man reached out and slapped her again, harder this time, making her lip split. Pepper cried out again at the impact, but remained silent after. She was determined to stay silent, she wasn't going to give them anything – not the terrorists, and not Tony. Razza smiled at Tony. "Do you need another incentive?"

Tony stared back at the man, his face void of emotion. He couldn't trust himself to speak. He wanted to kill Razza and his men, take Pepper away, explain to her what he was trying to do, and that he didn't mean any of those words spoken here. But he was still powerless and tied to the damn chair and he had to play this horrific scene out.

Razza took Tony's lack of response as further defiance. He nodded at the fat man a third time. He wasted no time, and quickly turned to Pepper again, this time his hand turned into a fist and Tony felt his face burn and his insides churn as he watched the bearded overweight man punch her full on in the face. Her chair toppled back, but Razza stopped it from falling over completely. Pepper let out a strange "ooof" sound as the fist connected, but again said nothing afterwards, just blinked her eyes to clear the black spots away, her head involuntarily lolling on her chest as she did so. After a minute the pain in her face began to throb. Pepper was scared, the punch hurt – really hurt – and surely it was just the start. She was unable to stop the tears from welling in her eyes, or the sob that broke from her body despite her best efforts to hold it in.

Tony tried not to react to the hit, tried not to let the pure horror and desperation of his situation flash across his face. He stared down at the floor, then the battery, just poking out from beneath his chair, as he composed himself, before looking back at Razza.

_Look at Razza. Look at Razza. Don't look at her. Not her. Do not look at Pepper. Razza. Look at him. Look okay. Look calm. Look happy. Look relieved. Look scared. The whole world thinks you are a selfish bastard; it shouldn't be too hard to convince them of this. Look at Razza. Pepper! No – Eyes on Razza. I'm sorry. I'm so – Razza, look at him.' I'm going to kill you first, then the fat man.' Pepper – oh God, Pepper._

Razza watched as Tony stared at him, his face a mix of emotions that Razza couldn't read. The fat man moved over to Tony, stood by him and cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Tony tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. He couldn't open his mouth and not scream at the man and plead with him to let Pepper go and give them his word that he would build the Jericho right now, hell, he'd build the man two. He could hear Pepper crying quietly, spluttering as though she was trying to keep it in, but failing, and suddenly Tony was terrified – how far were they going to take this? What would they do before they believed him?

Tony looked at Razza, ignoring the hitter who cracked his knuckles again. Razza seemed to be enjoying himself. Tony wracked his brains for what to do - act scared, he thought, yes. Hell it wasn't acting – it was real, he was terrified, he just had to make them believe that the fear he felt for Pepper was for actually for himself.

The fat man leant down, gently fingered one of the wires that led into the bandages that covered Tony's chest. Tony held his breath, too stiff to move, scared the man was going to yank the wire out. Then what would happen? Would his heart just stop? He didn't know.

"Would you prefer it if we were hitting you, instead?" Razza's tone was soft, Tony almost didn't hear him from where he stood, just five feet away, but it still made Tony's stomach churn.

Tony looked down at the hand touching the cables, genuinely afraid of how to respond. He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes. The fat man's hand was suddenly on his chin, grabbing it, hard. "Open your eyes. Keep them open, watch what you are doing to her. Shut them again and I'll spoon her eyes out!" His voice was rough, his accent strong and his breath stank. Tony decided not to comment on any of those things.

Instead he opened his eyes, having no doubt that they would follow through on the threat. He watched as the fat man released his chin and stalked back over to Pepper. Again Tony refused to look at Pepper directly, though he was sure she would be looking at him. The fat man stood before her, hand made into a fist, holding the pose ready to strike, tormenting her. He could see her fear and he was enjoying it, feeding off it, the sick bastard. "I am sorry to damage such a pretty face," he said, causing Razza to laugh cruelly again, "but it is not my fault – blame your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." It was true, but Peppers voice was cold, so cold, it hurt Tony. He hoped this was a sign that she understood, though he still couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye.

"No, I guess not," the big man said, before moving in to strike again. Before he did so Pepper lifted her foot, brought the stiletto heel of her shoe down on his foot with all of her strength. The man yelled as the heel sunk into the material of his boot, crushing against the skin of his foot, cutting skin and bruising bone. Tony watched, mouth open in shock and awe, then fear, as he realised they would retaliate.

The big man roared in pain again, leant over, rubbed his foot, then jumped up and shook it about in the air, before moving over to Pepper and throwing both hands around her neck. He began to squeeze and choke her as he continued to rage.

"I'll kill you for that you Western whore!"

He continue to squeeze, Pepper was red in the face, jerking about in the chair as she tried to break free.

"No! Stop! Please, stop! Don't! Let go of her, let go, you're killing her!" Tony realised that the desperate pleading was voice was his own, but he didn't care, he had to make them stop. Razza watched, calmly enjoying the show for a minute, before finally muttering something to the man that Tony couldn't hear. The two argued for a minute before Pepper was released, she coughed desperately for air, leaning forward in the chair as far as her restraints permitted, her face bright red.

Tony finally looked Pepper in the eye; she looked terrified as she caught her breath, but also – angry. She stared at him while she drank in the air, still glaring, and Tony couldn't tell if she genuinely believed he would happily sacrifice her to save himself. Probably did, he realised, she probably thought he was a self-saving coward, like everybody else would believe. He looked at her, the dirty clothes and dishevelled hair looked so out of place on somebody who was usually so preened and…_ perfect_. Her lip was split, her left eye was swollen, and would soon be black, and bruising was already visible on her neck. Tony clenched his fists, feeling his nails bite into his palms as he tried to channel his rage. He stared at Razza and muttered his silent mantra: _I am going to kill you all. _He knew this was his fault – his fault for bringing her on the trip, his fault for not building the bomb, his fault for being such a jerk that somebody had paid a terrorist cell to assassinate him in the first place.

The big guy leant over Pepper, a murderous look on his face, and Tony tensed, scared of what the man was going to do. He leaned down, grabbing Peppers feet roughly, and pulled both shoes off, before throwing them against the wall in anger. One of the shoes bounced back and he kicked it away, still raging.

"This is a waste of time!" He yelled, furious. He pointed at Tony as he spoke, spittle flying from his mouth. "She is a waste of time. He is clearly a coward and will not help her! We will see how long you last yourself, you pitiful coward!" The fat man screamed in his face.

He turned back to Pepper, roughly shoving the gag back in place. "Now it's your turn to watch."

The fat man began to speak to Razza again, they had switched language, and Tony could only assume he was getting permission to swap prisoners, to start on him._ Please_. Razza was clearly the leader. He was nodding his head at something; the fat man was speaking quickly, moving his arms as he spoke. _Please_, Tony thought, _please_.

Pepper looked over at Tony. He was sat straight in his chair, staring at the two men to her side, and he looked – relieved. Though the man was leaving her alone, she didn't feel any better – she was hurt and tired and now these animals were going to hurt Tony and they were both probably going to die in the end anyway and – oh God – why was this happening to them?

Razza's voice broke the silence. He stepped away from Pepper, finally, and slowly approached Tony as he spoke. "So, Mr Stark. You are happy to allow a woman to be hurt in place of yourself. You are a coward – an American coward. This really is your last chance – save yourself some misery and just build us the bomb."

"Get real," Tony grunted, hatred in his eyes, "you f*cking scumbag."

The fat man cracked his knuckles as he had earlier. Razza moved to the side, now stood between Pepper and his chair, probably wanting a better view as the fat man worked.

"First, let's even things up." The fat man turned to Pepper to make sure she was watching before sending a powerful punch into his captives face. Tony's head was whipped back from the impact, his eyes slamming shut from the force of the blow. Jesus. He sat back up straight, spat out a mouthful of blood, trying his best to ignore the blow. Shit, it hurt – the fat man was _strong_. Pepper was tough too, he realised, if she had taken the same force without blacking out. Tony looked back up at the big man and, smiled, showing his bloody teeth.

"Oh, you think you are strong, but I will knock this fighting spirit out of you, trust me." He swung for Tony again, this time Tony shifted in his chair, twisting to the left, and the fist glanced of his shoulder this time, the impact still forceful, but not nearly as painful as if it had hit its intended target.

"You're calling me a coward," Tony yelled, still furious from Pepper's treatment, "you're the one hitting women, attacking somebody who can't fight back – you're just pathetic. If either if you had half a brain cell between you then you'd realise that the pay out from the insurance company would be enough that you could buy yourself ten Jericho's and safe yourself a lot of trouble!"

The fat man rose to the challenge. He pulled out a knife and cut away the two rope bindings that held Tony to the chair. Tony's breath was coming in fast as he realised what was happening – adrenalin was coursing through his veins. He was surprised the man was going to let him out of the chair – of course, in his weakened state, attached to a car battery, there was probably little damage Tony could do – but still, he told himself sternly, _make this count_.

"Come, Stark, you want a fair fight. You have it. Get up. Fight back. Let's see how long it lasts."

Tony's eyes flickered around the room, hoping for some kind of way out – something, anything, that could help – this could be his one chance to get Pepper out. Free of the chair, he kicked it away, then leant down and hefted the battery up, tucking it beneath his left arm. "Fair fight, sure," he muttered. He wasn't going to risk getting disconnected, but it was going to be a huge hindrance.

The fat man smiled cockily as he watched Tony pick up the car battery. He took a step closer to Tony, and the two men began to circle each other. Tony desperately wanted to attack the man, to jump on him and beat him to death with his bare hands, but he knew he had to wait. His attacker lurched forwards, his fist swinging out, and Tony stepped backwards, before going in with his only free hand, a managing to punch him on the side of the head. It wasn't a powerful blow, but it was something. He stepped away quickly again as the fat guy charged in again, now angry and rushing. This time Tony didn't wait as expected, and when the big man stepped towards him, Tony kicked out, his foot connecting with the man's knee, hitting the joint, making the big guy yelp. He stumbled backwards for a moment, his knee struggling to support him, and Tony stepped in again, this time bringing his entire weight down with him as he stomped on the mans damaged foot. The big guy couldn't help but wail, he literally growled in agony as his foot was further injured, and fell down onto one knee to cradle it, shouting and huffing and breathing heavily. Tony moved in, ready to finish the man off, but before he could something slammed into the back of his head, dropping him to the floor instantly.

Tony lay still on the floor, his head buzzing as he tried to piece together what had happened? Razza. Of course - they wouldn't let him win. He looked up, saw Razza towering over him, gun in hand, and Tony guessed that was the object that had slammed into the back of his head, dropping him. The defeated fat man had climbed back to his feet and stood, hands on his hips, looking suitably mortified but also, unfortunately, furious, as he glowered down at Tony.

"Fair fight huh," Tony repeated, before clawing the battery to him, and using is as a stepping stone to push himself up from the floor. Before he was on his knees the fat man sprung forwards, his foot slamming into Tony's back, forcing him back to the floor. Tony couldn't help but cry out as his chest and the surgical wound impacted with the concrete floor.

Suddenly Tony was exhausted, he could literally feel his energy drain away from his body. Shit, he thought grimly to himself, as he felt the tremors in his chest grow stronger. His head was throbbing from the earlier blow, his arms and legs felt weak, the adrenalin that had pumped through him earlier effectively used up.

"Get up." Razza spoke this time, staring down at Tony's still form, though Tony didn't move. "Get up, now."

Tony opened his eyes, looked up to Razza. Behind him he could see Pepper, she was pulling against her bonds, her face streaked with blood and tears – she looked – hysterical. Tony realised that the muffled sound he had heard was her, shouting into the gag. He was glad he couldn't hear her.

His shoes scuffed against the smooth concrete floor as Tony tried to find something to help leverage himself up. Realising his legs were shaking too much, he used his arms to slowly push himself up from the floor. Razza watched him as he struggled, and then, when the captive was half way up, he nodded to the fat man on his left who took great pleasure in, once again, lashing out. He used his boot again, this time connecting with the side of Tony's face, his ear taking the brunt of it. Tony managed to hold an arm out to break his fall before he was flat out on the concrete once again, coughing and breathing in deep haggard breaths as he fought against the pain. His ears were ringing, as a result of the blow, Tony realised, and he almost didn't head Razza issuing the same command as before. "Get up."

Tony knew what was going to happen, but he was also too stubborn to stay on the floor. He wanted to get up – he wanted to show them that he wasn't scared, wasn't beaten. In Pepper's presence he wanted even more to prove this – to them, to her, to himself – it took a lot more to hurt him than this. And, he thought afterwards, if he didn't get up – maybe they would go back to Pepper – something Tony couldn't risk. He had to get up.

They let him get to his feet this time, and he stood, teetering slightly, waiting to see what would happen. The fat man moved in, limping slightly, Tony noticed, and Tony couldn't help himself. "How's the foot?" Retaliation was immediate, as Tony expected, and a blow to the stomach was followed up with one to his face that knocked him back down. He hit the floor, yelping again, shuddering deep breaths through his battered body. It wasn't the hits, Tony thought, as he fought to catch his breath, it was the fall, he had to stay up. Before he could think any further, his minute of respite was over as he heard Razza's cruel voice demand once more. "Up."

The cycle continued. Tony took longer to get up each time, and seemed to hit the ground harder each time. They blows were alternated, sometimes a kick to the back, sometimes a fist to the face, sometimes the fat man would just kick his legs out from under him. How long had this been going on – hours? It felt like it. Tony lay still on the ground, after another punch to the face. His eyes were swollen, almost swollen shut, his lips felt like one giant crusted tear, his head throbbed and his chest – his chest was simply _pain_.

"Up."

This time, Tony gave in, ignored the command. The fat man moved over, used his boot to tip Tony over from his side, onto his back.

"I see you are conscious. Get up!"

Tony ignored them, his eyelashes fluttered slightly beneath the swollen, bloody skin. Pepper watched, in agony, as Razza continued his demands. She was mentally exhausted – the pain of watching Tony's prolonged beating hurting far worse than her own wounds. She had screamed into her gag, cried, pleaded, whispered – but none of it mattered. The men continued their assault – hurting him, goading him, testing him, hurting him… As Tony had uttered his defiant remarks, Pepper had shook her head, willing him to stop, as it only brought more punishment. But part of her felt better when he did it, it was Tony being Tony – being a bit of a jerk, refusing to back down, and it comforted her, to see he wasn't broken yet. Pepper just wished it would end, but how could it? The only way this was going to end was with their deaths, or their compliance in the murder of others – there was no way out.

"Come on, get up." The fat man taunted, "you're girl over their is watching. You don't want her to see you like this – get up," he goaded.

Tony ignored him. The fat man smiled, moved over to Pepper, took the soaked gag from her mouth. Pepper licked her lips, her throat was hoarse, her lips dry and chapped and her mouth ached from the gag. She looked up at the man, silently asking him why he had untied it.

"He won't listen to us. Maybe he will listen to you." Razza stood back, interested by his colleague's ploy.

Pepper shook her head, closed her mouth, she was not going to take part in their games.

"Tell your boyfriend to get up."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Pepper screamed, at the end of her tether. She really didn't think she could take any more.

"Tell him to get up, or I'll make it worse for him."

Pepper shook her head again, and the fat man stalked over to where Tony lay, on his back, his head lolling to one side as he laid dazed on the floor. "Tell. Him. To. Get. Up." Each words was enforced with a vicious kick to the man at his feet, two to the side, two to his arm, as Tony had rolled over to protect himself, the last more of a stomp than a kick as the man brought his boot down onto Tony's back. Tony heard himself cry out in pain, his own groans got louder with each kick. He was ashamed of himself, screaming in front of Pepper, but he really couldn't help it.

"Stop it!" Pepper screamed.

The fat man laughed, held his hands out, a gesture of innocence. "Then tell him to get up."

"Tony," Pepper whispered her voice cracking as she fought to control her emotions. "You need to get up. Please, get up."

Tony heard the words filter through his mind, quietly hovering around the background of his focus, which was consumed by the pain that controlled his senses. He shook his head, still on his side, but he moved his arms, trying to move himself. He was exhausted – physically drained, but he had to try. He couldn't let Pepper get involved in this – they could turn on her.

"That's it, you're going great," Pepper encouraged as he made progress. Blood dropped from his mouth onto the floor as he tried to push himself up. Pepper watched him, feeling her stomach twist, feeling guilty, because she was making him get up, and when he got up, they were only going to hurt him again. Now they were using her, and she felt – she felt like a traitor.

It took a while, but he managed to slowly push himself up from the floor, trying to keep in the gasps of pain that came out as he moved. One eye had now swollen shut completely he realised, as he looked up at Razza, still managing to glare at the man through one swollen eye. Getting impatient, Razza grabbed Tony by the arm, trying to pull him up quicker. Tony took advantage of the proximity, and spat a mouthful of blood over Razza's jacket. Razza quickly let go, stepping back as Tony swayed on his knees, unsure if he should try to make it to his feet, or just lay back down. He looked satisfied as Razza pawed at the blood on his military jacket with his sleeve, a look of distaste on his face.

"You will pay for that you dog!"

Before Tony had time to process the threat, or indeed respond to it, still feeling sluggish and only semi-conscious, Razza himself lashed out, his boot his weapon of choice. Razza kicked out his foot with as much force as he could muster, and it landed squarely in the centre of the dirty blood speckled bandages wrapped around Tony' s chest, where the cables were connected.

Tony couldn't help the scream that came from his body as he fell to the floor, arms clutched around his chest as he tried to take in an agonising breath. He couldn't breathe, the pain was too much, spreading outwards and inwards to his very core with each breath he took. Tony rolled on the floor, onto his side, hoping that would make the pain stop, but it continued, stabbing motions, getting deeper each time his lungs drew in air. He felt his vision going, the room was getting darker. He was fading out, fading fast. _Maybe that's a good idea_, a small voice in the back of Tony's head suggested. But then he thought of Pepper, watching all of this – if he passed out now, she would be left alone with these men. No. _No_. Get up. Eyes open. Breathe. Get up. He could hear Pepper, over the rushing static in his ears, she was shouting at the men, telling him it was going to be okay. Before Tony could even open his eyes, never mind attempt getting up, Razza moved in, kicking him again, this time in the side. It wasn't the most powerful kick, but it was enough to send Tony crashing out into oblivion.

Pepper continued to scream obscenities at the men as anger raged through her. She bucked in the chair, almost knocking it over as she spat and swore and screamed at the men. Razza was tiring of the noise, tiring of the interrogation – they needed to make progress quicker.

He motioned to the two young guards who watched from the door.

"Take her back to her cell," Razza ordered. The two men descended on Pepper, their strength far outweighing hers as they released her from the chair and dragged her to the door. "No!" She screamed, realising that Tony was not going with her. "Leave him alone! Leave him alone!"

Pepper was dragged from the room. She twisted in the grip of her captors, getting a last look at Tony before the door was closed. He lay on his side, arms loosely held around his chest, still and pale and black and blue and splattered in blood and grime and sweat. The bandages that were wrapped around his chest, a poor substitute for a shirt in the cold room, had soaked through with blood.

As Pepper was thrown back into the cell, Yinsen quickly embraced her, made her sit by the fire and simply held has as she rocked back and forth in his arms, almost making herself sick with the sobs that wracked her body. Was she hysterical or delirious, Yinsen wondered? It didn't matter, he simply held her and tried to comfort her as her body exposed these heightened emotions. Pepper tried to stop herself, to control herself, and calm down, but she couldn't. She couldn't hold the emotions back, for now she realised, without doubt, that unless Tony caved in to their demands, they were going to kill him.

_**Sorry for the delay! In my defence, I had a holiday to enjoy, and then I had to re-write this chapter a couple of times as it wasn't right. Not sure this final version is very good, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. And, hey, it's my longest chapter yet **___

_**Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please review!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

For Yinsen, the time alone in their shared cell dragged on and on. He was worried about what the guards were doing to his fellow prisoners. He feared mostly for the woman's safety – she was clearly the tool they were going to use to exploit Tony. Would Tony Stark give in, or would he allow his friend to be tortured? Both options were impossible, and he had no idea what the outcome would be.

As he waited, he prepared his medical equipment – he had his bag down by the seating area open and ready for use. Then he paced, back and forth, until finally, hours later, he could hear the warning sound of the rusted bolts being pulled back. Yinsen stood by the door, hands on his head, eyes on the ground, anxious to see in just what state his guests were returned.

The door opened, and as it did, Yinsen heard the commotion, before a hysterical Pepper was dragged in by two young guards – hitting and clawing and fighting the men as they moved her. With the door open they threw her in, she stumbled backwards but then ran towards the door, trying to get back out before it was closed. Pepper wasn't fast enough, and she screamed and hit the steel door before collapsing to her knees. Yinsen picked his kit up and moved over to the distraught woman, he stood for a moment, looking over her, she was bloody, bruised, her shoes were missing and she was, to put it simply, traumatised. Yinsen feared the worst had happened, and tried to be as gentle as possible in his approach.

"Pepper," he whispered, then repeated it, louder, as he laid his bag down on the floor before kneeling down beside her.

"Pepper," he said, gently prodding her shoulder, scared how she would react to his touch. "What happened?"

Pepper shook her head as she noticed the older man's presence. She felt embarrassed about her emotions, but couldn't stop herself. "Are you okay?" Pepper could see the fear in his eyes and reached out to him, wrapping her arms around him, clutching him to her as she cried. Yinsen simply held her. After ten minutes of crying and holding Pepper finally stopped, took a deep breath, shuddered once, and gained control of herself.

"What did they do to you?"

"I'm fine," Pepper said, her voice scratching in her throat, coming out all husky sounding. "I'm okay. Tony, he isn't, and he's still there with those-"She felt her eyes welling up again, closed them tight, clenched her fists and calmed herself once more. "I'm okay Yinsen," she said, seeing how worried he was.

"And Tony is still with them?"

Pepper could only nod, her fear momentarily withholding her ability to speak.

"What happened?"

Pepper sighed, ran a hand over her face, gently minding the sensitive bruising. "They took us to some room. They asked Tony to build the bomb. They said they would – they would... hurt me, if he didn't." She took a deep breath. "Tony – he, said all of these mean things about me, acted like he didn't care about me at all. Then they hit me, and he just – he did nothing."

Yinsen listened quietly, watching her as she fought to gain her composure. He held her hand and could feel the tremor's run through it as her body shook from the shock.

"Then, I, I," she smiled, then laughed in disbelief, "I stomped on this guy's foot, with my heel – so hard, I felt his foot crush-"

"Oh Pepper!" Yinsen looked excited but scared at the same time. "Those men are very dangerous. You should never try to fight him, you are lucky to be alive. In future, you must not antagonise them."

Pepper shrugged his warning away. "After that, they said that Tony was a coward, and they would see how long he could last himself."

Yinsen shook his head. "Mr Stark isn't a coward. He just knows that he can't build them the bomb."

Pepper sighed, then held her head in her hands. "I was so confused by his actions, his attitude; it was like I was nothing to him, just a stranger."

"Are you too together?"

Pepper smiled, shook her head softly, used to the assumption. "We're not romantically involved. We've worked together for years, we're very close. But he was just so – _cold_." She paused. "I don't want him to give in – he can't build them the bomb, I know that, and I agree. But he acted like I really don't mean anything to him, and for a while I believed him. But then I realised what he was doing – he was-"

"Trying to protect you," Yinsen finished with a sad smile on his face.

Pepper nodded. "When they said they were going to leave me alone he looked so – relieved."

Pepper felt her eyes well up again. "And now I feel so bad, I mean, I should have trusted him all along. And now he's alone in there, and they aren't going to stop, they're going to keep hurting him until he says yes, and he can't say yes, so they're going to kill him, probably."

"He is strong," Yinsen said, not knowing what else to say.

Pepper shook her head. "You didn't see him. He was laid on the floor, black and blue, his face all swollen, it didn't even look like him, he could have been anybody. And his chest – they kicked him – he was bleeding… I'm so scared." She quietly began to cry again, not having the strength to hold her emotions back. It was all too much.

"Come," Yinsen said, carefully pulling her up from the floor and directing her towards the wash room. "We need to put a cold cloth on that eye of yours; it will help with the swelling." It was true, it would help, but Yinsen hoped it would also help distract her. It didn't.

Pepper leaned into him as they walked, tired and hurting and terrified. As Yinsen gently dabbed at her lip with a cloth she asked him, "What's going to happen to him?"

"It will do you no good to think of that. As I told you last night, you have to be strong for him. I can take care of you now, and then together we will take care of him."

Pepper closed her eyes, winced as the water made her lip sting. "What are we going to do?" She had never heard herself sound so desperate before, but she was – their situation was hopeless.

"Honestly?" Pepper looked at him, saw the sincerity in his eyes. "The best thing would be for them to break him."

Pepper shook her head, unable to respond.

Tony woke, with a bucket full of cold water thrown in his face helping to rouse him. He coughed, blinked, tried to raise his head an inch off off of the ground, stopped immediately when he felt the migraine like pounding in his head and face intensify. He opened his eyes again, realised only one would comply, the other was too swollen to budge. It was then that he noticed the gun in his face, the fat bearded man looming over him, smiling hungrily. Tony groaned, he didn't mean to, he couldn't help it, the sound made his lips hurt, hell,_ everything_ hurt.

Then everything hurt a hell of a lot more as his arms were suddenly grabbed and Tony was pulled upright, a third man kicking the battery along the floor behind him as Tony was pulled across the room. He was too weak to fight the arms dragging him forcefully – his chest hurt again, like before, when he had first woken from the surgery, and Tony remembered the kick to his chest – the pain – the judder that seemed to reach inside his body and radiate only pain and hurt.

He was no longer moving, and he managed to stand fully, his legs now working, the two young men still holding his arms, keeping him upright anyway, sensing his weakened state. Tony opened his eye, looked around, saw Razza, leaning against a wall, watching Tony carefully. Then he noticed the – what was it, a trough? Tony was pulled over to it. The fat man stood by it, his hand resting inside it – in – was that water? Realisation hit Tony as he was suddenly pushed against the edge hip-height trough and a hand was on his neck and he was thrust down head first into the dirty, freezing water. Tony managed to take a short breath before he was suddenly submerged in the water, head first.

He jerked under-water – more from the shock of the cold sensation attacking his chest wound, making it sting and tingle. Surprisingly the cold seemed to soothe his swollen, aching face and Tony kept his eyes squeezed shut, trying to enjoy the moment of numbness as the throbbing of his face faded. But then he needed to breathe. He needed air. _Need air_. _Can't breathe._ He pushed up against the hand on his neck, felt another hand grab his hair, helping to force him down. His back hurt from the position he was held in, and his face banged against the base of the trough. It hurt and he couldn't stop from opening his mouth to cry out and then he was taking in water and choking and thrashing and _oh God, this is it, can't breathe, choking, this is –_

Suddenly he's on the floor coughing and choking and vomiting water and his chest, _oh God,_ it hurts. He tries to stop coughing as it hurts his chest wound, making it burn, but then he ends up vomiting again and he can hear the guards laughing in the background and something slaps him around the back of the head. Then he's coughing up even more water and his vision is blurred, it feels as though he is still under water, but he can feel the ground, feel his body shivering against the hard floor, he's not in the water anymore. Then he feels a hand pulling at his hair, another wrapped around his arm and they're dragging him back up and Tony feels blackness approaching, his vision going darker and Tony pleads for it, begs for it, he isn't sure if he's pleading silently in his head or out loud but it doesn't matter, because he slumping in the men's grip, and then he's unconscious again, and they have to leave him alone for a second, they can't throw him back in just yet.

Razza looks down at the pitiful man, slumped between the two men, unconscious, his body covered in blood and water, shaking between the two men's powerful arms. The fat man looks disappointed, he was enjoying this. Razza sighs, makes a decision. "Take him back," he orders, "tell Yinsen to fix him."

The fat man looks at him, like a child looks at an parent who has taken their toys away. He is still mad about his aching foot, and had been enjoying his retribution.

"Later," Razza commands. "We don't want him to die. Not yet."

**Apologies for this short chapter - I've been pretty busy! I know what's going to happen though, just need to get it written – soon, hopefully!**

**Once again thank you to everybody for the reviews, favourites and PM's, I really appreciate it, and love hearing from people - so please keep responding!**

**I will hopefully update this in the next few days or so. Thanks for reading :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Yinsen had to literally hold Pepper back when Tony was returned by their guards. As soon as the door was closed and they were locked in, they both ran over to where he lay, crumpled on his side, unconscious, soaked through and trembling against the dirty cave floor, his body streaked with blood. Yinsen knelt down and looked the man over, assessing his injuries, silently prioritising what to do first. Pepper wasn't as calm, she knelt opposite Yinsen, began stroking Tony's hair and gently calling his name, her voice full of emotion.

"It is better if we don't wake him," Yinsen said gently.

"But I need to know he is okay," Pepper's voice was defensive.

"Let me look him over, then you can wake him."

"Please, let me just talk to him, and I can-"

"Pepper!" Yinsen snapped. "Look at him. You want me to wake him up? He will be in pain. He is hurt! Let me help him, then we will wake him." Pepper looked at him shocked by his tone, then nodded as she realised how selfish she was being. "Good," Yinsen said, his voice softer this time. "Do me a favour – pull one of the spare cots over here, by the fire. And make sure the fire's not going to go out soon, we need to warm his body temperature."

Pepper nodded and hurried over to perform her tasks. Yinsen looked down at Tony. His face was swollen and bruised, he had clearly been given a beating, but there was no worrying damage there. His chest and back were in a similar condition – bruised, some scrapes, on his back, a particular bad hit had left a boot-print bruised into his skin. Yinsen winced himself as he gently prodded over the area, but decided again that intense bruising was the only symptom. Some of his ribs could be either bruised or broken, but as there was no way to treat this, Yinsen left it. It wasn't a priority. Swollen, bruised and broken skin would heal by itself, given time. There was a chance of internal bleeding but Yinsen could assess this when Tony was awake. For now, Yinsen's concern was the man's chest – the bandages were soaked through, and stained with blood, which had turned a pale pink colour from the water.

Pepper pulled the bed over, it wasn't heavy, and didn't take long. "Thank you," Yinsen muttered, "can you help me get him up – hold the battery?"

Together they managed to get their patient on to the bed – Yinsen gripping the man from under his arms, Pepper carrying the battery under one arm, the other trying to help support his feet. They both grunted from the effort. "He's – he's heavy," Pepper panted, surprised by the dead weight.

"Yes," Yinsen agreed somewhat distractedly, as he cut through the sodden bandages. He winced again as he looked at the mess that was this man's chest. The wound was inflamed and bruised, and it looked like one of the wires had become dislodged. Yinsen worked with a needle and some tweezers, and thoroughly checked each wire was fully connected to the socket. The skin around the magnet had already been pink, with burns and stitches scattered around it. Now it was also bloody, where the stitches had torn, and seemed to leak with more discharge than previously. Yinsen carefully cleaned the wound, before deciding it was the best he could hope for. The area was inflamed and bruised and Yinsen was sure it was infected. He sighed as he reached over for the bandages, and this time, packed a wad of cotton and a chunk of folded bandage against the wound, before bandaging over it. It added another layer of protection – not the best thing, but it was something. Pepper nodded her head as she watched the entire process, her eyes skipping between Tony's sleeping, bloodied and swollen face, to Yinsen's hands as he delicately worked on the man's injuries.

Now satisfied that the most important injuries had been taken care of, Yinsen instructed Pepper to fetch all of the blankets they had, Tony still felt cold despite the heat of the fire. Before wrapping him up in the threadbare blankets Pepper used one to gently dry his face and arms – droplets of water mixed with blood still clung to him, and she was determined to get rid of them. After this she moved and softly dried off his hair with a blanket, as best as she could. Pepper looked over at Yinsen who was rummaging through his kit frowning.

"Why is he wet?"

Yinsen shrugged, refraining from answering. He had a good idea of why the man was wet but he wasn't going to share that with Pepper.

"He looks better, at least, with most of the blood washed away."

"Yes," Yinsen agreed, although he hadn't seen Tony previously. "If you can get a cold cloth, it may be a good idea to press it against that eye – it looks completely swollen – he's going to have trouble opening it."

Pepper nodded and quickly got to work. When she returned she gently held it over his eye, then alternated it between his other, slightly less bruised eye, and then his ear which was black and blue and crusted with blood from a particularly vicious kick she remembered witnessing.

Yinsen zipped his bag up and yawned. "We need to keep him warm, and I'm worried about the magnet – the wound looks infected. We need to keep a close eye on him. It could be a good idea, to wake him now," Yinsen offered, remembering their earlier conversation, "see how he feels. It will help me assess his condition."

Pepper looked down at him, his sleeping form – it was strange, seeing him so – still. "Can we leave him, for a while? He probably needs the rest."

Yinsen knew they should wake him, but he found himself agreeing with Pepper, and together they watched him sleep.

As exhausted as she was, Pepper couldn't sleep after that. She didn't want to leave Tony either, if she was honest. Instead of going to her cot as Yinsen repeatedly suggested, she pulled the chair up to the side of his own cot, so she could be comfortable – her own body ached and pulled when she moved – and keep an eye on him. Yinsen pottered around the cave, breaking off every now and then to look inside his medical bag as though he was searching for something. Every thirty minutes he would refresh the cold cloth pressed against Tony's face. He insisted it would help with the swelling, although for now it looked just as bad as it had before.

After an hour Tony began to move in his sleep. Just small movements, a slight shake of his head, a twitch in his face. Pepper didn't notice how one of his hands was gripping the edge of a blanket tightly. The other fist, hidden beneath the covers, was wrapped around the edge of the cot, again fist tight, the joints on his hand white from the pressure of his grip.

"Yinsen, I think he's waking up."

Yinsen came over as Tony moved again, this time more of a jerk than a fidget, and he moaned in his sleep.

"If he becomes any more active, we may need to hold him down, or wake him up. It's either a bad dream or the pain is too much, and he feels it even now."

"Can't you get something for the pain?"

Yinsen smiled at her naivety. Chloroform was what the Ten Rings classed as anaesthetic and pain relief, it was all he had. "These men only give me the tools to keep bodies alive – they are not concerned about their comfort afterwards."

Tony moved again, another sharp jerk, and then began to mutter under his breath, his lips moving, but Pepper couldn't hear his words.

She leaned over to smooth his hair down again. Such a personal act – but she couldn't help herself. Pepper brushed his hair back away from his sweaty forehead, and found it soothed her almost as much as it did him. Tony suddenly opened his eyes – correction – eye – and froze for a second as he stared warily up at Pepper. There was no recognition on his face, so Pepper brushed his hair back again, and this time Tony reacted, whacking her hand away before trying to scurry off of the bed, only stopping when he felt the pull of his chest and he gasped as he fell back onto the mattress.

"Tony, Tony - it's me, it's Pepper, it's okay."

Tony lay still on his side, hand curled against his chest as he breathed in ragged breaths through the pain that had assaulted him. As he calmed, he woke fully, and finally turned back over, laying on his back, the pain in his chest seemed to ease, slightly.

"Sorry," he grumbled. Pepper shook her head, indicating that no apology was necessary.

"How are you feeling Mr Stark?"

Tony almost smiled. Somehow, Yinsen's calm demeanour seemed to comfort Tony. "Okay," Tony sighed as he slowly pushed himself up. "A little warm under these covers," he added as he pushed them away.

"Well we had to warm you up, your body temperature was low," Yinsen probed.

Tony ignored the probing statement with a simple "thanks."

After brushing the covers away Yinsen was pleased to see Tony stayed seated on the bed, didn't attempt to get up. Whilst it meant the man was in obvious pain, it also meant his body could heal better. "Pepper, would you please heat up some soup while I check Mr Stark over?"

Pepper nodded, giving Tony his privacy.

"How do you really feel, Tony," Yinsen asked, his voice a notch quieter as Pepper busied herself with the soup.

"I'm-" he paused again as he shifted slightly on the bed, but was pleased to hide the flinch of pain that had tried to erupt from his bruised body. "I'm, okay, really," Tony said, staring across the room, watching Pepper work.

"You have taken quite the beating. Your back and chest are severely bruised, possibly your ribs are broken. Your face has taken the brunt of their fists, clearly. Although it should all heal – in time. But your chest," Yinsen sighed, wanting Tony to understand the gravity of the situation, "it is not good. You must do your best to protect it."

Tony's head snapped to the side as he stared at Yinsen through his good eye. "I don't really have much choice about that, do I?"

Pepper came over, carrying a bowl of murky looking soup – their staple diet. He shook his head, felt nauseous at the sight of it. "I'm not hungry."

"You must eat," Yinsen interrupted, "you need to keep your strength up."

Tony took the bowl, stared down at it. He really didn't want to eat. His body was aching, it hurt to breathe, or move, and his head felt like an inflated balloon – which it probably looked like. "What happened," Tony asked, trying to distract himself from the pain, and Yinsen from forcing him to eat. "How did I get back here?"

"They brought you here, about an hour after I was returned," Pepper interrupted, watching him carefully.

Tony tried a spoonful of soup, swallowed it, grimaced, forced himself to keep it down. "Do you remember what happened, after I left? You were, you were wet through when they left you here."

Tony shrugged, forced his face to remain blank. "I don't remember anything. You were there, in the chair. I was on the floor, I think. Then I woke up here."

Yinsen stared at the man as he spoke. It was interesting, he really was a convincing liar. Why not convince the terrorists he didn't know how to make the bomb? Yinsen decided to leave the point for now.

Tony rested the bowl on the bed besides him, pulled a hand up to the back of his neck, let his head rest against it as he willed away the pounding of his head. "Pepper, about before, I – I'm –" He looked down at his hands. "I'm so sorry."

Pepper smiled and shook her head. "You don't need to apologise to me Tony."

"I do. Look at you. What they did to you. What I did to you!"

Pepper made her voice remain calm as his became more and more stressed. "You didn't do this Tony. You were just as powerless as me."

"I may as well have hit you myself." He looked down at his knees again as shame and disgust snaked across his damaged face. "I'm just so sorry."

Pepper smiled, reached over, took his hand in hers. It was shaking. She held it tightly. "You did nothing wrong, but I forgive you anyway. I knew you were just trying to protect me. And it worked. Look at yourself, and look at me. Clearly, I did better out of this than you did."

Tony smiled at her – despite the sting it caused to his cracked and split lips. God, she was always so – kind, and selfless, and – good. Somehow the words didn't seem to do his feelings justice.

Pepper returned the smile, then her eyes turned stern again as she pointedly stared to the bowl of quickly cooling soup. The message was clear. Tony sighed, took another spoonful, and Pepper laughed, it felt like any other day at the office, in the workshop – Tony apologising, although at least this time, for once, he genuinely didn't need to; and Pepper taking care of him, making him take care of himself. She watched in silence as he finished his meal, clinging to the feeling or normalcy, knowing it wouldn't last.

That night, they moved back to the sleeping area at the back of the cave. Tony lay on his cot, breathing in and out as slowly as he could – it kept the rattle of pain his lungs caused in his chest to a minimum. He couldn't sleep. How could he? He was worried and scared and knew this wasn't the end of it. They were going to come back for him. Or Pepper. He had to do something. He needed a plan.

Yinsen was snoring softly, Tony didn't mind the noise, it was almost comforting. But it wouldn't help him get to sleep either. He shifted slightly on the cot, wrapped his blanket around him, mindful of the battery wires.

"Tony?"

"Pepper," he whispered.

"Are you okay? I heard you moving – is it the pain?"

Tony smiled in the darkness. Once again, Pepper trying to take care of him. "I'm fine, I'm just.. thinking. Why are you awake?" His voice got louder, from the whisper, but he tried to keep the tone down for Yinsen.

"Same," she said, still a whisper. "Do – do you think anybody will come for us?" The crack in her voice told Tony how scared she was.

Tony didn't know how to respond. "I think people will be looking for us. But will they find us? I don't think so."

"But Rhodey-"

"Rhodey's probably dead," Tony interrupted, his voice cold, empty. "Please, I don't want to think about Rhodey right now. I can't think about him."

"I'm sorry."

"No – I'm sorry. I just – can't, think about him. If he is dead – God," Tony sat up in bed, held his head in both hands. He heard a shuffle and suddenly Pepper was seated beside him, her hand gently rubbing a circle into his back. "All of this is my fault," he whispered again. "You're hurt, all those soldiers – dead. And Rhodey – he's dead, I know it, and it's my fault."

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "Any yes, Rhodey may be dead, but he could be okay. Until we know for sure, you should hold onto hope, we have to. The soldiers," Peppers voice hitched in her throat, "as tragic as it is, they were doing their job – their duty. And you didn't kill them, the terrorists did. And I'm fine Tony, and I'd much rather be here, with you, than be back home worried sick about you."

Tony nodded, but the gesture was insincere. "Thanks," he muttered, to pacify Pepper – no point making her feel as bad as he did. "I promise you Pepper," he said, his voice full of determination. "I am going to get us out of here."

A loud bang was suddenly heard – Tony looked over to Yinsen, had he fallen out of bed? It was too dark to see. Suddenly the door was opened from the other side of the cave – men with guns ready, screaming for Tony. The lights came on, blindingly bright, adding to the confusion. Tony raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light. How had that happened? Men were pouring into the room, lots of them, led by the fat man. Razza was nowhere to be seen. Tony quickly glanced at Pepper, she sat still on the bed, frozen in place, her hand clutching his wrist tightly. He shook his arm free, moved slowly towards the men with the battery slung under his arm. He turned back once more, saw Yinsen scrambling from his bed, looking tired and confused from the commotion.

"Mr Stark," the big man leered, "so good to see you on your feet again!"

Tony stared at him. "What do you want?" Tony spun round, saw Pepper striding over angrily, her hands on her hips. "Stay there!" He yelled at her, his voice angry. Why would she get involved? How could she be so stupid? She should be hiding back there, not arguing with the men – what if they take her again? He was relieved to see her stop moving, and then Yinsen gently pulled her to the back of the cave.

"Don't worry!" the fat man continued, in high spirits. "We only want you, for now." The threat was very clear. The fat man finished his statement with a solid punch that was thrown into Tony's stomach. Tony doubled over, gasping for breath, winded from the force of the hit. The battery tumbled through his grip and clattered against the cave floor.

"Pick it up."

Tony knelt down to pick the battery up, still coughing. In the background he could hear somebody shouting, the words "leave him alone" standing out over the commotion. _Pepper. _He stood up straight again, the battery held tightly to his chest, against his aching ribs and bruised skin.

A guard approached, handed Tony a filthy canvas sack. Tony grabbed it, then pulled it over his head, understanding that this was what they wanted him to do. Somehow it felt worse, doing it himself, worse than when he had been forced to wear it. Then hands pulled at his arms, shuffling him forwards. He clung to the battery as he was moved through the underground compound, trying not to think about what was going to happen, what they were going to do to him. He clung on to the rusted metal box like it was a lifeline, which ironically, it was.

_**Thank you to Jimenush for your kind , encouraging PMs :)**_

_**Is anybody else still reading this? If you are, please let me know! Please, P-U-R-L-E-A-S-E review!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was the same room as before, Tony realised immediately, as the sack was snatched from his head. But this time the chairs were gone, and the trough was in the centre. The room was quite dark, Tony wondered why they hadn't lit it. They obviously had the capability, seen as they had lit the living cell earlier. Was it another tactic to try and disorientate him? The fat man stood by the tank, gently splashed his hand in the water as he had last time, smiling at Tony. He was still enjoying this. Tony stared at him, and then was pushed from behind, closer to the tank. Razza was nowhere to be seen.

"My men, they tell me that you are strong, that I should tie your arms behind your back, to make it easier." He smiled again. "But where is the fun in that? I enjoy watching men struggle."

A nod of his head and Tony was grabbed from behind, a strong hand clamped around the back of his neck, and suddenly he was in the water again. This time he took in as large a gulp of air as possible. It didn't seem to last very long. He tried to push his head up from the water, but the hand on his neck was too strong. He used his free hand, (the other was still holding that damn battery, digging into the side of his chest) to push back against the edge of the trough, but another hand found its way to his shoulder, and pushed him in deeper. Realising his arm was not helping, Tony tried a different tactic and reached out, trying to hit at the bodies holding him in. He caught hold of material and pulled, but then a fist hit him in the head and his arm was wrenched up behind his back and his face was scraping against the base of the trough. He stopped fighting, feeling his vision go dark as he had no more air. He opened his mouth, not wanting to, but desperate, and more water rushed in, choking him, drowning him, and surely, this was it_. They want you alive_, a voice whispered in his ear, but then a second voice joined in, reminding him that they were initially paid to kill him anyway, so what would it matter if he did die? Would they still get paid, despite the delay in killing him? Then what would happen to Pepper? His legs gave way as his vision blacked out, and there was darkness – only darkness.

He opened his eyes later and found himself on the floor. Something was pounding against his chest – and it hurt, his chest wound – his ribs - the pain – it was an agony that Tony couldn't describe. Instead he tried to breathe. Breathe through the pain. Breath through the ragged coughs that brought water up from his lungs, onto the floor, his captors, himself – it didn't matter as long as he could breathe again. He gasped in air as his vision came back in spots. The guard stopped hitting him, gave him a moment, then the dragged him back up by his arms and threw him back into the water, the battery now on the floor by his feet, he almost tripped over it as they forced him back under.

"Build us the bomb!"

"Are you ready to help us?"

"You will make the Jericho missile!"

"Build me the bomb!"

"You will break Mr Stark. Why endure this when the end result will be the same either way?"

"Build the bomb and we will let you go, you and your lady friend."

They continued their drowning with renewed vigour. Each time they would ask him the question, demand he build for them, and each time Tony refused. He was so weak now, that he didn't even respond to the threats and demands, he just ignored them and gasped for breath – he wasn't going to waste any precious air in responding to the terrorists. Tony fought back as best as he could, but it was impossible. They cycle went on and on. They would hold him under water, Tony would struggle, his resistance growing weaker and weaker with each round. A few times he woke up on the floor, sure he was dead, that it was over, and other times they let him up after a short dip, giving him just a second to catch his breath, before forcing him back in again. They were disorientating him with the alternating lengths of time under water. At times Tony feigned unconsciousness and they would reluctantly drag him out. When they realised he was awake they would hit him and kick him and then throw him back in. Tony didn't know what to do. After a while, he began to hope they would leave him in, just end it, but then a quiet voice would remind him of Pepper, and he would struggle again.

At times he realised he was talking to them, responding to the threats between dunking's, still refusing to give in to them, but instead begging, pleading for them to stop, or sometimes just sobbing, unable to stop himself. He couldn't help it. But they did not listen. They did not stop. Hours later, they grew tired of their game. After the last session, Tony lay on the floor, his body twitching, vomit and water and blood staining his chest and his chin. The floor was soaked through. He felt the men grab him and braced himself. Instead of throwing him back in, they were dragging him away. He tried to pick his legs up to walk, but he was too weak. He left himself be dragged, closed his eyes, thankful for the break. They dumped him a foot inside the shared cell. He saw Pepper and Yinsen approaching, tried to get up, fell into a crawl, vomited water all over the floor and passed out once more.

He came too hours later, laid on the cot by the fire again, his head spinning, his entire body hurting. His throat ached, his chest throbbed, both the magnet wound and his lungs. He looked around, the room was lit, and he noticed Pepper at his side, holding his shaking hand, his entire body seemed to be trembling.

"Pepps," he slurred, but said nothing more, instead closing his eyes as his body shivered again.

"Tony," Pepper said, holding his hand a little tighter. "This has got to stop. You're going to die. Tell them you'll build it. Please."

He didn't move, didn't open his eyes, just lay still, but managed to mutter a "can't" quietly.

"Please Tony," she whispered. "Just say you will do it, just to buy some time, to recover a little, and then when you're stronger-"

"No," his voice sounded a little stronger already.

Pepper was desperate. "They have weapons already – what's one more?" She didn't want him to build the bomb, but she couldn't stand to see him like this either. "Nobody would blame you."

His eyes flickered open, he looked up at her and he looked – angry? Sad? _Lost._ "No," he said, and then a cough rattled through him. He leant on his side as the coughing fit continued, then spat out a mouthful of spit before collapsing back onto the bed. "Sorry," he muttered, bringing a shaking hand up to his face to wipe his mouth. Then he was asleep again. Pepper watched him sadly.

Yinsen came over, sat down besides Pepper, having witnessed their exchange from across the room. "He is very weak, it is good to let him sleep."

Pepper shook her head. "They're going to kill him."

"Yes," Yinsen nodded. "If he doesn't build, they will kill him whilst trying to force him. If he does build – they will kill him afterwards anyway."

Pepper shook her head. "What are we going to do?"

"Wait until he is more lucid, and then we can both speak to him."

Pepper nodded, then drifted into silence and watched as Tony twitched and shivered and moaned in his sleep. The swelling to his face had gone down slightly, both of his eyes were now functioning, but the bruising scattered over his face and body were darker, looking angrier than before. Yinsen took his temperature and shook his head at the results.

When the guards had returned Stark he had checked him over, re-bandaged the surgical wounds, and then, realising there was still water settling in the man's lungs after listening with a stethoscope, Yinsen had rolled him over and punched him on the back three times, forcing Tony to cough up the liquid. Tony had woken during this, but seemed oblivious, and Yinsen hoped the man wouldn't remember it – it was bad enough being tortured by terrorists, he didn't need to remember the man caring for him assaulting him too, even if it was to help.

But Tony was ill, that much was clear. The two sessions of water torture had clearly taken their toll. He was strong, but he was still human, and his body was beginning to deteriorate from the trauma. Yesterday, Yinsen had feared infection in the chest piece area, and today, the wound looked worse, the infection clearly spreading over the site. Whilst it was hard to determine how Tony's body was holding up against the infection because of the other damage – one thing was clear, he was going to need medication. Antibiotics, at least; and Yinsen was running low on general medical supplies.

Yinsen was worried. He was scared. He was going to have to ask the men for supplies. They were going to want something in return. Would they demand he help them make Stark comply? Or would they want to trade for something else? He glanced over at Pepper as this thought crossed his mind, and then quickly looked away. If she knew what he was thinking, she would probably go along with it, if it got Tony the help he needed, her devotion to him was obvious, but that was something Yinsen would do his best to prevent.

Yinsen decided that he had another day of supplies left, at best. Tony was still okay, for now, he would see how he fared against the infection, and if he got really ill, he would demand supplies and see what happened. He just hoped the man's body would fight it off on its own – he was strong, this he had proved already.

Tony didn't wake again, instead he slept through the night – the first time Pepper had ever known him to sleep for more than a few hours, unless he was drunk. Of course, these weren't normal circumstances, but it worried her. Yinsen reassured her that it was a good thing, and that he needed the rest. They left him where he was, by the fire, it was important that he keep warm. Yinsen retired to his bed later, but Pepper stayed in the chair by his cot, not wanting to leave him in case he woke up confused. She watched him sleep through the dim light of the fire, the flames giving his skin a slightly orange tint, making him look healthier than she knew he would look in the morning.

She managed to drift off for a little while, but generally spent most of the night worrying: about him, about the terrorists, about what she could do to help them get out of this mess. Each time she heard a noise she jumped, thinking it was the men, coming for him in the night as they had done the night before. This time the men waited until morning. Maybe they realised that he needed time to recover.

Yinsen gently woke him at seven am, so that he could eat something, and be checked over again. Tony was tired and confused at first, mumbling a "what happened?" before he seemed to regain his composure, and then answered each of Yinsen's probing questions with a flat "I'm fine."

He got out of bed and paced for a while, holding the battery with both hands. His body ached and pulled as he tottered unsteadily around the cave but he knew he needed to keep moving, to keep his body active. When he finished his final lap he perched on the edge of the bench and stared into the fire, seemingly deep in thought. Pepper sat down beside him, leaving a gap between them, but still close enough for him to sense that she wanted to talk.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him gently.

"Ideas," he replied, vaguely.

"Don't shut me out Tony, I want to help."

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her a little bewildered. "I don't have anything yet; I'm not shutting you out."

"Good," she said gently, seeing him relax slightly. "Listen, we do need to talk about this. We can't just keep on letting these men hurt you, we have to do something!" She rubbed a hand on his arm as she saw he was about to protest with his stock answer of "I'm fine" or "I'm thinking." Neither was good enough. "God," she said, touching his arm again, "Tony, you're freezing."

He was still shirtless but given that most of his chest was covered in bandages it didn't seem to bother him. He shrugged his shoulders again. "I feel warm, actually." Yinsen came over, took his temperature again. "I've probably warmed up from walking around; it's nothing to worry about."

Yinsen, however, insisted that Tony wear a jacket he had found out, it was black and looked musty. Yinsen was adamant he wear it, insisting his body needed to stay warm, despite the heat he already felt. Tony stared at it with dissatisfaction but then thanked Yinsen sincerely. He didn't get the chance to put it on – instead he dropped it to the floor as the tell-tell noise of the bolts on the door began to sound.

"Shit," Tony muttered under his breath, before glancing at Pepper who had frozen beside him. She looked as scared as he felt. This time the fear really hit him. _Not again. Please_. He didn't know if he could take any more of the water. The door was opening and Tony snapped himself out of it, felt his façade slip into place. "Pepper get to the back of the cave," he warned, pushing her behind him. He could hear her bare feet patter against the floor and then the guards were pouring into the room – more than usual – and he stood straight, hands behind his head, trying to ignore the fear ripple through him as the fat man strode towards him. Goosebumps appeared on his arms, despite the heat he felt, and he ignored them, stood tall, tried to look as indifferent and fearless as he could.

The fat man didn't waste any time. "Grab him!" He ordered, sounding angry. "Her too!"

Tony strode forwards, hands now down as he grabbed the man on the arm. "Leave her out of this!" In seconds three men were on him, one dragging him away from the fat man, a second tried to wrestle his arms behind his back as a third smashed him on the side of his face with the butt of his Stark weapon. Tony went down, grunting and gasping and yelling for them to leave her out of it.

Yinsen watched, hands still behind his head, looking terrified but too scared to intervene. Pepper strode forwards. "Leave him alone," she pleaded, "I'm coming!"

The fat man grabbed her, twisting her arm up high behind her back as he marched her out of the room. She tried to turn back to look for Tony but she couldn't, the pressure on her arm too much, she couldn't fight it. Tony was dragged out behind her, three men still struggling to contain him, a fourth holding the battery, as he shook his body between the grips the men had on him. As he was marched forwards he stopped protesting, tried to catch his breath, but rage still fuelled him as he watched Pepper forced ahead of him, the fat man twisting her arm higher each time she tried to move. He stopped shouting, moved with the men, realising he needed to calm down and save his energy.

He was thrown into the torture room and stumbled but managed to stop himself from falling. He stood, the three guards still surrounding him, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath and compose himself. Pepper had been released but the fat man was stood at her side. She was holding her arm against her body, clearly in pain. His panicked face flittered between Pepper and the trough as he felt his body began to tremble slightly in anticipation. He did not want Pepper to see this – to see them hurt him – but also – what if they did it to her? No, Tony decided, no. _I will not let that happen them_. Tony noticed that the trough was empty, what did that mean?

The fat man was talking to one of the guards in a different language, motioning with his hands to the far wall. Tony glanced over, noticed for the first time a rusted tap bolted into the wall. How had he not noticed that earlier? _Pay attention._ The fat man turned back to Pepper then, smiling and rubbing his hands together.

"We need your help. Pull that over to the tap," he instructed, indicating the empty trough with a nod of his head. Pepper looked confused for a second, but then the big man growled "now" in her ear and Pepper moved over to the trough. She looked into it worriedly, then grabbed it by the edge and began to drag it across the room, the wood scraping against the floor. It was heavy, and Pepper was slow. Tony moved to help her and three guns were pointed at him, so he stayed put.

Pepper made it to the wall. She dusted her hands off and then looked at the fat man, feigning ignorance, slow timing him.

"Turn the tap," the fat man said, his hands playing out the action of turning a tap, "and fill up the tank."

Pepper glanced nervously at Tony but did as instructed. She watched as dirty looking water slowly filled the tank. Tony concentrated on his breathing – in, out, in, out. He didn't want his apprehension to show to these men who were clearly enjoying his discomfort, no matter how he tried to hide it. Pepper continued to stare into the water, wondering what the men were going to do. It wasn't hard to guess, Pepper had seen the state Tony had been returned in, the last two times, but somehow her mind still didn't piece together the possibility of water torture.

The trough was just over half-way full. "That is enough," the man said, scratching his beard. Pepper turned the tap off and glanced back over at Tony who swallowed hard_. Not Pepper_, his silent mantra, repeated over and over in his mind. _Not Pepper. I can't let her go through that_.

Two younger guards holstered their guns, then moved over and between them carried the trough back to centre stage. It was heavy and some of the water sloshed over the sides from the movement. Pepper watched Tony, saw his body flinch slightly as the water sloshed over the edge and puddled on the floor. The fat man pulled her back to him, stood near the tank, he pulled his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. Pepper closed her eyes, not daring to fight him off. His breath stank and the closeness made her skin crawl. He spoke, directing his words at Tony.

"Are you ready to be more accommodating Mr Stark?"

Tony looked at him, raising an eyebrow, trying to figure out if the threat was for him or against Pepper. A second later it was clear as he was shoved against the trough, his hip slamming into the side, his right arm pulled viciously high, forcing him forward with a gargle of pain and then he was back in, fighting the murky water, holding his breath, trying not to panic, trying not to breathe, trying not to give in – and, quickly, too quickly, he is suffocating, blowing out air bubbles, struggling against the hands holding him in, kicking his feet back, shacking his body and then he is breathing in water and drowning and it hurts and Pepper is watching and-

Suddenly he is on the floor again, shock waves rattling through him, his body spasms as he coughs up water and gasps for breath. They give him a minute, then hands are on him and he is hauled to his feet again. A hand from behind grabs his chin, forcing him to face the fat man and Pepper. Pepper looks terrified, but she is silent. Tony continued to gasp for air, mouth hanging open from exhaustion. That was only the first, he thinks, and a little voice whispers _you can't do this_ _again_ to him.

"I think he should change his mind," the fat man addresses Pepper, "what do you think?"

Pepper doesn't break her gaze from Tony. Her eyes are filled with sadness and terror and fear and all she can do in response to the question is whisper "Tony?" It isn't an answer, and the fat man nods his head and Tony is back in the water. The cycle continues. The third time, they dunk him in, pull him back out by his hair seconds later, then throw him back in again, repeat the process, then hold him under for a long time. Tony struggles, his struggles grow weaker. Pepper begs the fat man, scratches his arms, screams at him, pleads for him to leave Tony alone, her protests becoming more frantic as the seconds pass.

"Please, leave him alone!"

"Stop it, you're going to kill him!"

"Tony!"

"He's no good to you dead!"

The fat man laughs at her and continues on. Tony is dragged out of the water, barely conscious. They drop him on the floor, slap his face, kick him as he coughs up more of the dirty water, then grab him again, throw him back in.

"Please, let me talk to him, I can convince him, I can talk him into helping you, please!"

"Let me talk to him!"

Three hours in and Peppers voice is hoarse. Tony can no longer hold his own weight, the men are holding him up as they continue their games, their attempts to break him no closer to being complete. The fat man is growing tired. "Enough," he screams, and Tony is dropped back onto the floor. The fast man pushes Pepper away. She wants to run to Tony, where he is slumped back on the floor, gasping for air in shallow pants, he looks terrible, he looks exactly how close to death he is. She takes a step closer to him and one of the armed guards points at her, warning her to stay where she is.

"Mr Stark, you are very stubborn. Let us again test your resilience."

He switches language again, just for a second, and then the young guard, the strong one who enjoyed twisting his arm so high grabs Pepper, marches her over to the tank. Pepper screams and then the sound is cut off as her head is roughly pushed under the water.

"Pepper!"

Tony struggles to get up, another guard kicks him back to the ground. "Leave her alone please! Pepper!"

The fat man moves closer. "You know what you have to do to make us stop, Stark," his name is spat out like it's a filthy word.

"I'll do it! I'll do it! Let go of her, pull her out, I'll do it! Please!" He realises how desperate he sounds, crazy – frantic – pure desperation.

The fat man leans over, grabs a fistful of Tony's hair in his fist, pulls his head back sharply.

"I'm not sure I believe you."

Tony looks up at him – fear and terror and panic in his eyes. "Please, I'll do it, please," his voice cracks as rage pours through him. "I'll fucking do it, I'll fucking build it NOW!"

That seems to do it. They pull Pepper out – she is gasping for breath and crying and sobbing and her hair is dripping wet, falling messily over her shoulders. Tony looks up at her, feels his heart literally breaking.

The fat man clapped Pepper on the shoulder. "Thank you for your help," he says, and then two guards grab her and pull her away, out of the room. Tony can hear Pepper calling for him. He wants to demand to know what they are doing, where they are taking her, to make sure she is okay, but he doesn't have the strength. He falls back to the floor. The fat man stands over him – the only man left in the room. He drops a pencil and a pad of paper on a dry spot on the floor.

"I will be back to collect a list of the equipment you require tomorrow."

He leaves the room, and Tony hears a bolt fasten against the door. He sat up slightly, his arms trembling from the effort. He looks around the room – four empty walls, the water trough and a pencil and paper pad. He crawls over to the pad, picks the pencil up. His hands are shaking too much to write anything. He slips the pencil behind his ear, deciding that he will take just a minute to sit, and then he will think, and write - his head is a mess, he can't think of anything right now. _Pepper_. Instead of machine parts and equipment all he can think is _I broke, I gave in_. He couldn't let them hurt Pepper though, he just couldn't.

The room was cold. His chest hurt. Breathing hurt. He looked down at that damn battery and dropped the pad of paper down on top of it. He curls onto his side, bracing his arms against his bruised chest as another spasm jerks its way through his body.

He tries to order himself to think, but the only things he can focus on are Pepper and _I broke. _He's tired, too tired to keep his eyes open. And he doesn't want to look at the trough anyway. Rest your eyes, just for a minute, he tells himself. But he is asleep in seconds, his shivering form twitching and jerking as unconsciousness takes over.

As he sleeps, he dreams of Pepper. He dreams of the fat man, hurting her. He dreams of the car battery becoming disconnected. He dreams of his father, the all American patriot, and himself, building weapons for terrorists, a _traitor_ of the USA.

_**Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter! Glad to see people are still reading this. Hope you enjoyed the update! Hopefully Tony and Pepper's ride will get a little easier now…. Hmm… not too sure about that actually ;) *insert evil smile here***_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Tony slept for hours, his body unconscious, but his mind still worked overtime - dreaming, producing images that were projected against his inner mind as his thoughts mixed with the fever coursing through him, producing a delirium that he was unable to fight.

He laid on the floor, pencil still tucked behind his ear, shivering and trembling against the cold concrete. His body was sweating; the bandages covering his chest that were soaked from the earlier water torture were now damp with sweat and blood. He was oblivious to it all as he slept and dreamt; unconscious and unaware. He laid on his side, with both knees curled up, one hand gently covering his chest, a protective, defensive gesture, even in his current state. The other arm was splayed out against the floor, covered in goose-bumps. The arm was, like the rest of him, dirty, covered in bruises, grime, scrapes, sweat and blood. The hand was curled into a gentle fist, tightening every so often as the images passed through his subconscious.

He saw Happy and Rhodey in the casino, throwing dice and laughing with him, Rhodey unable to stay mad at him over the award, his name engraved in the gold; it sparkled against the gambling table. Then he saw himself as a child, a young boy, looking through one of the many scrapbooks that Jarvis helped him make one summer, flickering through the newspaper cuttings he collected, featuring his father and Stark Industries. One front page tabloid he had neatly trimmed and carefully glued against the stiff card pages proclaimed his father to be the all American hero, "Our Saviour Stark" and, Tony remembered as he watched himself gently touch the cutting, this was before his work on the Captain America project.

The image faded from his mind, replaced with this time images of Pepper, different pictures of her passed through his mind, as though he was watching a power point presentation featuring his PA. He watched the different pictures float through his mind, in one she would smile at him, in another frown, in some she looked angry, others focused as she flicked through some files, or stared hard at her computer screen, deep in thought. He watched video-clip style memories of her helping him, taking his calls, planning his day, pointing at the box she needed him to sign. _Always there_, he thought as he slept - _she's always been there for me_.

The image of Pepper changed again, her glowing, radiant smile changed slowly, to her present state, her business suite was dirty, ripped and frayed in places, her hair wet, sticking to her head and neck, her face bruised, and she was – scared – hysterical – screaming in fear – for him, for them. Tony grunted in his sleep, tightened his fist again, willing the image away, wanting to bring back his Pepper, the Pepper on the plane, the Pepper in the office, the Pepper he had before this nightmare began.

Finally, Peppers frightened face disappeared. Thank God. A new image passed, his father again. No. No image this time, just audio. His father's voice, speaking – to him? Tony listened to his father, to Howard, as he lay on the floor, randomly calling out and grunting as he slept, his body riddled with fever and pain. "My son," his father called, voice tinged with disappointment, as he most remembered it to be. "Tony," his father continued, "What have you done? My own son, a traitor… a traitor, a traitor… "

The door clanged open, hours later, and the fat man strode into the dull room cockily, fingers running through his beard as he eagerly looked towards the captive. He was gleeful and had waited all night in anticipation of seeing their prized guest, who had first been so confident, arrogant, defiant – now cowering and shamed into breaking. He was looking forward to showing Razza the man's list, to show his leader what he had achieved with the prisoner. The man halted suddenly as he looked down at the prisoner, he was still unconscious or sleeping, breathing heavily, fidgeting in discomfort. He did not look well.

He nodded to one of the two soldiers who had accompanied him, ordered them to wake the prisoner up, hoping this issue would be resolved quickly. The two men marched over, crouched down and rolled Tony onto his back, shook his shoulders and slapped his cheeks. The man didn't flinch, didn't move, he made no response at all. The soldiers looked up at their commanding officer, awaiting further instruction.

"Go fetch Yinsen!" He ordered, and the two young men hurried to do so. The fat man crouched down now, waved his hand against the closed eyed face of Stark, nothing. He climbed back up to his feet, looked around the room, found the pad of paper, it was empty.

"Shit!" He cursed to himself.

Yinsen was escorted into the room soon after, medical bag clutched between his shaking hands. He paled as soon as he locked eyes on Stark. "Wake him up!" The big man ordered, before shoving him towards Tony. "I will be back in 30 minutes and I expect to see him awake, and with a list of the materials he needs to build the bomb." The fat man threw the pad of paper at Yinsen then stormed out of the room, locking Yinsen in with Tony.

Yinsen paced around the room for a moment, taking in the huge trough of water, the blood stains on the floor, and Tony, his friend? He didn't know if 'friend' was the correct term, but they were more than fellow prisoners, of that he was certain. Yinsen ran a hand over his head, then took his glasses off and wiped them against his shirt. His supplies were almost gone, he didn't have what needed to treat Tony, so he wasn't going to attempt to wake him. With a large sigh Yinsen knelt down and gently held a hand against Tony's forehead. His skin was freezing cold, despite the film of sweat that covered his body. Yinsen pulled out his thermometer, held it as steady as he could under the shaking man's armpit, then gasped at the reading. Fever, yes, a _bad_ fever. He used his stethoscope, listened closely, then carefully placed it back inside his bag. Pneumonia – of course. Yinsen would have been surprised it his fellow captive hadn't contracted this illness given the man's treatment at the hands of the guards.

Yinsen checked his watch, five minutes had elapsed. He used his scissors and cut away the bandages covering Tony's chest. As always they were wet and stained with blood, but this time puss and discharged pulled away from the man's chest, stuck to the underside of the bandages. Yinsen almost gagged. He looked at the wound but didn't touch it, the infection was far worse than it had been the day before. Where Yinsen had hoped it would settle down and clear up, the infection had done just the opposite, growing in strength and worsening as it spread.

He rummaged through his bag but it was clear he had no supplies suitable to deal with this. Tony was ill – dangerously ill. He needed medication; did their guards even have the supplies he would need? Yinsen grabbed Tony's wrist, gently held it and felt for a pulse, it was beating fast, too fast. Yinsen dropped it back to the floor, then raced to the door and began to punch and kick it as he called for help and assistance.

"I need help!" He screamed, "he is dying! I need medical equipment! Help!" He banged the door, then ran and picked up the pad of paper he had earlier discarded. He plucked the pencil from behind Tony's ear, then began to scribble down a list of all of the supplies he would need, plus others, that weren't as vital, but would make Tony's recovery more comfortable. His guards were not medical experts, they should not be able to distinguish between essential and non-essential medical equipment, so Yinsen decided to take the chance. When finished he ran back to the door and continued to pound it, his feet and hands beginning to bruise. The fat man came back, again with his two men, angry at the noise and disruption.

"Ah, he has written his list?" The man smiled, rubbing his hands together as he snatched the pad before he had even entered the room.

Yinsen looked at Tony, still unconscious, his skin grey and sweaty. Each breath he took created a low rattling sound as his lungs struggled to fight off the infection. His entire body continued to tremble against the floor.

Yinsen stood up straight and stared the man in the eye, swallowing his fear. "No, he didn't. I can't wake him. He is ill. Seriously ill. I need medication and medical equipment, now. If I don't treat him, right now, there is a good chance he will die. Without everything on that list-"He pointed to the paper held tightly in the man's chubby hands, "He probably won't see the day through."

The fat man stared at him, wondering if this was a joke. He looked back down towards the man he had broken, Stark did look bad.

"Please," Yinsen pleaded, "let me help him. I can get him better, and then he can build for you. But we need to work fast to fix him."

The fat man finally nodded. If Stark died, Razza would kill him, and it would not be a quick death.

"Fine!" The fat man spat, "I will get you your supplies. Fix him, if he dies – so do you. And the woman. But I promise you one thing," he threatened, "her death will not be as quick as his."

Yinsen nodded. "I need to take him back to our room – he needs a bed, fluids, and heat. If we leave him here, the cold alone could kill him."

The fat man again considered this, before shouting at the two soldiers. They dragged the prisoner through the tunnels and caves by his arms, Yinsen followed behind, carrying the battery and his bag, feeling relieved that he would be given the supplies they desperately needed. But he was also scared. Stark really was ill – there was no certainty Yinsen could save him. If Tony were to die – they all would. This was not a good predicament.

Pepper wisely stayed back, hovering near the fire as the men returned with Yinsen and Tony. She held back a gasp as she watched the men carry Tony over to the cot by the fire. Why did they do this, she wondered, why had they placed him on the bed, when they usually shoved him to the floor? They must have hurt him even more; she worried, chewing on a nail as she calmed herself. He had been gone all night, her mind began to torture her as she thought of what he might have been going through, whilst she had sat here, huddled before the fire in Yinsen's arms. _Tony._ She watched for a minute as the fat man and Yinsen spoke in Arabic, throwing words back and forth quickly, both men waving their arms in the air.

The fat man appeared to grow even angrier, then began to bark orders at the two soldiers who nodded their heads and hurried away. Then the fat man switched back to English.

"Remember," he warned, his voice low and controlled. "If Stark doesn't make it, neither do you."

Yinsen nodded, bowed his head submissively, and the fat man strode away. As soon as they were alone Pepper ran over to the two, dropped to her knees at Tony's side as she looked him over.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice almost breaking as she fought back the tears. '_Be strong_,' she told herself, _'be strong and help Tony_.' She sniffed once, pushed back all emotion from her face, hiding it away. Waiting all night for Tony's return after he broke had almost broke her too, but now he was back, and she would be strong, for him, it was the least she could do.

"He is ill," Yinsen muttered, as he tried to drag the cot Tony lay on closer to the fire. "His surgical wound is infected, badly. And he has pneumonia, I think. He has a bad fever, for sure. This is all I can tell you from a quick examination, there could be other things…" He trailed off, ran another hand over his head as he tried to organise his thoughts.

"Can you – fix him?"

Yinsen sighed. "I have given the men a list of the medications and equipment I need to treat him. There is a lot – I am not sure the Ten Rings will have access to it all. But," he paused to point at Tony who grunted again in his sleep, "they want him alive, and fit enough to work, so I assume they will find a way. Time is the issue. For now, all we can do is keep him comfortable. When they come back with the equipment, then I can get to work."

Pepper nodded, then pulled over the chair, insisting Yinsen sit in it, he looked exhausted. Pepper took her place back on the other side of Tony, she sat on the floor on her knees and gently ran her hand up and down his arm, mindful of the purple and green bruises that littered his skin.

"It's going to be fine, Tony, everything is going to be okay," she whispered to him again and again and again in a soothing tone, before wondering to herself when he had become 'Tony' and no longer "Mr Stark.'

_**I want to apologise for the delay in this update, and the lack of content in this chapter. After I posted my last chapter in July, my father died. It was very sudden and unexpected, which was as you can imagine a big shock, and I've been having a hard time accepting it. I've not been too good, but I hope that picking this story back up will help distract me, and I will try to update again in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience.**_

_**As always, please review :)**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12.**

It took the guards a long time before they returned with the medical equipment Yinsen requested. In that time Yinsen and Pepper stayed by Tony's side; Yinsen regularly checking the man's temperature, listening to his heart-beat, and working to keep his body heat up. Pepper assisted Yinsen when required, and when not, she continued to whisper in Tony's ear, to draw light circles against his arm gently, she did anything that she thought might bring him comfort.

At times Tony lay deathly still, something Pepper still wasn't used to – Tony didn't ever stay still - but then sometimes he would suddenly thrash about on the bed, fighting Pepper and Yinsen in his delirium. Three times he had vomited; Yinsen had hurried to turn him over so he didn't choke on the sick. Afterwards, Pepper had gently wiped the mess from his face, and watched with sad eyes as he continued to shiver and tremble beneath the heaped blankets.

Sometimes, to Yinsen and Peppers amusement, sometimes, to their worry, he would talk to himself, mumbling and slurring words out loud, giving them an insight to his dreams, his hallucinations. He had often called out for Pepper, following up with "It's gonna be 'kay Pep." He would mutter, and Pepper would stroke his arm and reply, telling him that he was right, everything was going to be okay. The talk wasn't always directed at Pepper, after one long vomiting fit he had begun to speak, quite clearly to himself, in a controlled voice laced with irritation and anger: "What took you so long?" and "I thought you were dead." Pepper wondered if he was thinking about Rhodey. Once, with his face covered in sweat and his body trembling more violently than usual, she had head him whisper one word, over and over in his mind, and it had broken her heart. "Traitor," he had whispered, "traitor," over and over, while shaking his head in distress. Pepper had tried to calm him, and eventually he stopped, but Pepper still felt tears spring to her eyes as she remembered the moment.

It began to get late, and there was still no sign of the medical supplies. Yinsen decided that they ought to try to get some form of food into Tony. Earlier, they had raised his head and trickled some water into his mouth in an attempt to make him drink it. Clearly this was a bad idea, as Yinsen had half expected, given his recent treatment with water at the hands of the terrorists, and Tony had coughed and spluttered the water up, shaking his head and weakly try to push Yinsen away. He had opened his eyes, the only time he seemed barely conscious, and stared wearily at Yinsen. "I'm not going to build," he stated, then started to laugh manically before falling back against the cot limply, lost again to the grip of the fever.

Pepper and Yinsen ate their soup late, and Yinsen suggested they try again with Tony.

"What if it scares him again?"

Yinsen shrugged apologetically. "It might, but I would feel better if he had something in him, even just a few spoons, something to line his stomach and give him some nourishment."

Pepper nodded her head, agreeing. She reached over, held her hand gently against his forehead. "I hate seeing him like this," she sighed, "I wish this nightmare was over."

Yinsen only nodded. She suddenly felt very selfish. "How long have you been here Yinsen?"

Yinsen smiled. "A long time, I'm afraid. This is my life now."

"No," Pepper said. "When Rhodey comes for us, or when Tony's better, and we come up with something, we're all going to get out of here. We're getting our lives back, all of us."

Yinsen smiled, appreciated her concern. "Until then," he said, going back to the business at hand, "Let's try give him some soup."

Almost on cue, Tony began to grumble once more, muttering a long "No," before rolling his head to the left and squeezing his eyes shut. Pepper ran a hand against the stubble on his cheek, and enjoyed the feeling. "The soup isn't that bad, I promise" she whispered, and Yinsen chuckled slightly.

Together they eased Tony into a semi-sitting position, leaning him against Yinsen. Pepper stroked his arm as she had before, and began to speak to him softly. "Tony its Pepper, you're ill, we're going to give you some soup to make you better, please eat it."

Tony was motionless, his face still sweating despite the coldness that rattled through his body. Pepper dipped the spoon in the brown soup, leaving only a little on. She held it against his lips gently, and then emptied the small amount into his mouth. She continued to talk to him and stroke his arm, edging away a little waiting for him to spit it out or cough it up. She grinned at Yinsen as he did neither, instead seeming to swallow it naturally, and Yinsen smiled back, pleased to see Pepper look happy and relieved, even if it would only last a few minutes. They carried on until half of the bowl was empty.

"I think that is enough," Yinsen said, we don't want to over face him, and make him sick again."

They gently manoeuvred him back to being laid down, and Pepper fussed with the covers. Yinsen moved away to clean up the pots, and Pepper moved in closer still. "Thanks Tony," she whispered in his ear, before gently touching the pink skin, realising that the cut and bruises it had sustained earlier in their captivity were now fully healed.

It was not long after, that the tell-tell noises of bolts and the heavy door creaking informed them of the guards approach. Pepper stayed beside Tony, determined that none of the people who had put him in this state were going to touch him. Yinsen stood by the door, hands on head, eyes on the floor.

The fat man came in, Razza in tow, with a couple of guards. This was the first time they had seen Razza in a few days, and Pepper kept her head down, scared. The man looked furious.

"My men have the equipment you need," he barked, and two guards came forward with a sack each, full of items. "Here is half, it should last a few days. I want to see improvement in two days or I will withhold the rest. These supplies were hard to come by and I am not wasting them if he is going to die anyway."

The fat man stood looking down at his feet, clearly he was in trouble for letting their prize get so badly damaged before they had been able to cash it in. Razza strode over towards the cot, ignored Pepper completely; instead he stared down at Tony. Pepper held her breath, wondering what he was going to do, but he quickly stalked away again, his boots thudding heavily against the floor.

"I will return in two days. I want to see a difference in him – a big difference."

Yinsen nodded his head.

"If he dies, I think you can work out what will happen to you two as well."

Yinsen nodded again, and then they men filtered out, they were alone.

Yinsen wasted no time, he quickly carried the first, and then second sack over to the table and emptied them out, riffling through the supplies.

"Is it all there?" Pepper asked, not knowing what any of the boxes or instruments did.

"I think so. This is good he said," his eyes lighting up. "We have a drip and antibiotics. A few days with these alone and he should feel a lot better."

"What about everything else?"

Yinsen smiled, "I asked for a lot of stuff, to be on the safe side. Sterile cream, antiseptic, even painkillers and morphine, it's all here. Well, as Razza said, enough for a couple of days." Yinsen began to assemble the drips, and within half an hour they were connected to Tony, one feeding into his arm, a second into his hand. Pepper watched eagerly, waiting for some sign that it was working.

"I don't think we will see any difference just yet, Pepper," he said, "it has to get into his system, circulate through his body, and then begin to fight. But please try to comfort yourself, with these medications; he has a very good chance."

Pepper nodded, but couldn't allow herself to relax, not until she could see some signs of recovery herself.

The night was long, for Pepper, Yinsen and Tony. Yinsen spent the entire night pottering about, alternating between checking his patients temperature, pulse and breathing, and changing the drips as each hour passed. He held off on the pain-killers, wanting to save them for when Tony was more lucid. He also redressed the bandaging on Tony's chest, checking it every few hours and adding more creams to the wounds around the magnet.

Pepper again tried to be helpful without getting in Yinsen's way. She talked to Tony, and found she was good at calming him when he began to fidget or fight Yinsen as he checked him over. Tony hadn't been sick since the soup, and although pale and clearly ill, his delusions seemed weaker in power. He didn't move around as often, and his mumblings to himself were becoming fewer, although twice in his stupor Tony had randomly burst out laughing, something which seemed to genuinely cheer both of his carers.

"I wonder what's tickled his funny bone," Yinsen asked, smiling over at Pepper.

"Could be anything, knowing him," Pepper said, laughing a little too. "It's nice to see laughter lines on his face, even just for a minute or two," she ran a hand over his forehead, "to replace the usual frown lines."

Yinsen showed Pepper how to change the drips, and talked her through the different antibiotics and medications. After schooling Pepper, she asked Yinsen to go and rest, the old man was exhausted, but he refused.

"I showed you this stuff to be prepared, not to abandon my patient."

"I hardly doubt a couple of hours rest is equal to abandonment."

"We've both been up for hours, why don't you take a rest?" Yinsen smiled, knowing he had her.

"Fair enough," Pepper said, and together they continued their vigil.

It was mid-afternoon the following day before Tony opened his eyes and blinked around the room wearily. He opened and closed his eyes repeatedly, then focused in on Peppers smiling face beaming down on him. He managed to return the smile and stammer out a "hey" before drifting back off again.

Yinsen smiled at Pepper, and answered her unasked question. "Yes, that is a good sign."

Pepper threw her arms around Yinsen. She wasn't normally a touchy person but she couldn't help herself. "Thank you for everything, I don't know what we would have done without you, I really don't."

Yinsen smiled, embarrassed. Over the next few hours Tony stirred twice more, and was far more lucid the second time. "What happened?" He croaked, after opening his eyes to see Yinsen's face leaning over his chest as he mopped up more discharge from the wound on his chest. Tony gasped as he applied the antiseptic cream to his body. "Doesn't matter," he continued weakly, "I remember now…"

"Hey sleepy head," Pepper said, arriving at his side instantly. "Back with us?"

"I didn't know I'd left."

She smiled then gently held his hand again as he gasped and grunted as Yinsen continued to tend to the wound.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worriedly.

"Are you?" The concern in his eyes made her want to hold him close and never let go.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, for what they did-" She gently pressed a finger against his soft lips to quieten him.

"It's not your fault." She removed her hand, placed it back over his, laid loosely by his side. His fingers tensed around it slightly, as he stared into her eyes for a long time. Finally he nodded, accepting this, and then fell to sleep once more, his face looking far more peaceful than it had earlier.

The next morning Yinsen decided to nap for an hour, no longer fearful that his patient would die – his concern now focusing on keeping him comfortable. Tony slept through the night, dozing for an hour, waking for minutes, dozing again. At times he seemed to fare better than others – sometimes able to speak, to answer Yinsen's questions, about how he felt, how much pain he was in. At one point, Tony finally admitted, when asked "How much pain are you in," for the fifth time by Yinsen who flatly refused to accept the "None" he had given, by answering quietly, "Some."

"How much," Yinsen repeated sternly, and this time Tony broke. "A lot," he whispered. He drifted off into another slumber after this, and Yinsen added a painkiller to the drip. Tony slept through after that and his skin tone looked better.

When Tony next surfaced, the pain killers still in is system, he was far more aware and alert, and tried to sit up and climb from the cot, which Yinsen told him off for, before forcing him back down and readjusting one of the drips which had become slightly dislodged.

"How long do I have to keep this in? What is it even doing there? Where did you find a medical drip in a cave? What's wrong with me, anyway?"

Pepper tutted to quieten him, then Yinsen explained his injuries, the infection, and his other wounds.

"Well I don't feel too bad actually," Tony said, attempting to sit up again.

"That's because I injected you with morphine earlier. This time thirty six hours ago you were on deaths door, delirious, talking in your sleep between bouts of manic laughter and vomiting fits."

Tony slumped back down. "Oh."

"Yes, oh. Your body is week. I need to keep you on the drip for at least a week, and we will regulate the morphine as you get stronger. But you need to keep still. You're lungs are still underperforming, you're temperature is still too high, and I'm not impressed with the time it's taking for the signs of infection to recede."

Tony sighed again. "Oh."

Pepper smiled at him. "But we're still alive and you're getting better." She handed him a bowl of stew and insisted he eat it. He took a spoonful and grimaced as he swallowed it. "Throat hurts." Pepper just nodded.

"So," he said, as Yinsen used his stethoscope once again. "What happens when I'm better. How long do we have before they expect me to build?"

"Not long," was Yinsen's weary reply. Tony only nodded, deep in thought. _Best get too it,_ he thought to himself. He finished the stew, then settled back down into the cot, his head suddenly hurting, his chest suddenly aching, why did everything hurt?

"I need to do something about the battery," Tony said, eyeing the rusted box. "Is it the leads causing the infection, or the magnet – or just the fact that I have a metal tube and a magnet connected to a battery wedged into a hole that was drilled into my chest causing the problem?"

"It could be anything. A foreign substance attached to your body, in such poor medical and sanitary conditions, coupled with your ill treatment and tortu-"

"Don't say that word!" Tony snapped, suddenly feeling angry.

"Okay. Yes, I think the magnet in your chest, some aspect of it, is struggling to heal. But equally, if the guards stop – mistreating – you, I think it could heal, given time."

"It's still slowing me down. I need to swap it with something."

Now Yinsen was equally amused and curious. "Swap it? This isn't a pawn shop; you can't trade it in for something else."

"I'll think of something," he said, his face tightening as he fought back winces of pain that were growing stronger with each breath he took.

"You are ready for another shot."

It wasn't a question, but Tony nodded anyway. He could feel the ideas forming in his head, but to act on them, he needed to be well, to be fit, to be strong. He had to let Yinsen help him, he had to get better, and then, he thought, as he watched Pepper clear his bowl away by the water tap, then I'm going to build, _build something to get us out of here_. His eyes drooped closed as warmth overtook him, and he fell asleep dreaming of blue prints and, strangely, the arc reactor that powered his factor at home. Tony gave a small smile to himself as he finally drifted off, leaving Yinsen even more curious.

**_Thanks for reading. Sorry to the delay, I went away on holiday and then got side tracked with everything else that has been going off. Will start the next chapter soon through, I promise._**

**_I was winging it with the medical stuff, I have no idea about this, so I hope it isn't too off-base!_**

**_I didn't have time to proof-read this as much as I'd like, so I hope it is okay!_**

**_As always, please review - they really make my day! :)_**


End file.
